Asia report: Markets mixed following tech rally on Wall Street

Markets in Asia finished in a mixed state on Wednesday, having seen some decent gains earlier in the session following a tech-led bumper session on Wall Street overnight.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 eked out gains of 0.03% to 29,036.56, as the yen weakened 0.18% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 108.68.

Automation specialist Fanuc was up 3.35%, while among the benchmark’s other major components, fashion firm Fast Retailing slid 2.41% and technology conglomerate SoftBank Group was 0.1% lower.

The broader Topix index rose 0.11% by the end of trading in Tokyo, closing at 1,919.74.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.05% to 3,357.74, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite rose 0.21% to 2,165.35.

South Korea’s Kospi was off 0.6% to 2,958.12, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong advanced 0.47% to 28,907.52.

Seoul’s blue-chip technology stocks were in the red, with Samsung Electronics down 0.61% and SK Hynix losing 2.56%.

The mixed moves in Asia came on the back of a stellar session for tech stocks stateside on Tuesday, where the Nasdaq Composite closed up 3.69% for its best session in four months.

Sentiment was relatively positive amid hope House Democrats in Washington would pass the agreed $1.9trn Covid-19 relief bill on Wednesday.

“Yesterday was the classic ‘turnaround Tuesday’ as tech came roaring back following Monday’s sell-off,” said Markets.com chief market analyst Neil Wilson.

“We can put some of this down to short covering, but equally it seems the market cannot make up its mind in terms of rotation and bond yields.”

Wilson said Wednesday’s 10-year bond auction would be key, after a sale of three-year paper on Tuesday “went off rather well”, and helped ease yield concerns, as the 10-year dropped five basis points to 1.54%.

“Asian shares failed to pick up the baton and European shares were mixed in early trade on Wednesday after eking out small gains on Tuesday, which followed Monday’s solid rally.”

Oil prices were lower at the end of the Asian day, with Brent crude last down 0.47% at $67.20 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate off 0.27% at $63.84.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.84% to settle at 6,714.10, with the energy subindex falling 2.98% amid oil price weakness.

Among the country’s oil plays, Beach Energy slid 3.39%, Santos lost 3.78%, and Woodside Petroleum was off 2.65%.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 gained 0.88% to 12,251.90, led higher by majority-state-owned flag carrier Air New Zealand, which was ahead 3.5%.

Both of the down under dollars were weaker against the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.18% at AUD 1.2974, and the Kiwi retreating 0.13% to NZD 1.3954.