Stocks in Asia were mixed last night despite a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street. The Nikkei (^N225) slipped 1.5% on the day in Japan, pulled lower by selling of computer chip makers, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) ended 0.2% higher in Hong Kong.
Japan also reported that its exports fell slightly more than expected in July, pressured by higher tariffs on goods shipped to the US.
Specifically, export growth posted its biggest year-on-year decline since February 2021, with a 2.6% fall compared to the 2.1% dip expected. Exports to the US were down 10.1% year-on-year, with US tariffs clearly having an impact.
The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 1% up by the end of the session and in South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) lost 0.7% on the day.
Across the pond on Wall Street, falls in Nvidia (NVDA) and other heavyweight artificial intelligence stocks pulled the S&P 500 (^GSPC) down 0.6% to 6,411.37. It fell back for a third consecutive session, and was the worst daily performance since 1 August, back when the underwhelming jobs report meant investors grew more fearful about a US slowdown.
The tech-rich Nasdaq (^IXIC) was also dragged down by 1.5%, to finish at 21,314.95.
However, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ended roughly flat, ending at 44,922.27, after briefly touching an all-time high.
In the bond market, the yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes fell to 4.314% from 4.346% late on Monday.