Asian Shares gained on Wednesday as most regional markets were closed due to Lunar New Year holidays. Japan’s benchmark dominated the gains by adding more than 1%
Associated Press Finance- Asian shares gained on Wednesday as most of the regional markets were closed for the Lunar New Year Holidays. Japan’s benchmark gained more than 1% after a silent finish for US stocks. On the other hand, US Futures were steady.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose by 1.2% to 57,249.43 by midday, as policymakers were busy reappointing Sanae Takaichi as prime minister after a landslide victory in elections.
The increase in the Asian shares was primarily dominated by technology companies, as computer chipmaker Tokyo Electron’s shares increased by 3.5%. Nevertheless, technology and energy giant SoftBank’s shares dropped by 2%, extending more than 5% loss on Tuesday. This occurred after the announcement of US President Donald Trump on the participation of SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, in a $33 billion natural gas facility, the world’s largest facility near Portsmouth, Ohio.
This agreement is associated with Japan’s commitment of $550 billion in US investment, a part of a trade deal that increased tariffs on Japanese exports to the United States by 15%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.4% to 8,993.20, whereas India’s Sensex increased by 0.1%. In Bangkok, the SET edged 0.5% higher. But New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 dropped by 0.7%.
US stocks fluctuated between positive and negative territory on Tuesday. The S&P 500 increased by 0.1% to 6,843.22, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained by 0.1% to 49,553.19, and the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.1% to 22,578.38.
Paramount Skydance, by gaining 4.9%, led the market. Discovery stated that it is the most suitable opportunity for Paramount to deliver its best and final as Paramount is striving to top an offer from Netflix. Wraner Bros. Discovery added 2.7%, and Netflix increased by 0.2%.
General Mills stood at the losing end of Wall Street, as it dropped by 7% due to uneasy feelings prevalent among customers. The company behind the Cheerios, Nature Valley, and Pillsbury brands reduces its forecast for 2026 profits, indicating that declines may be sharper than expected earlier.
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Multiple surveys have revealed that U.S. households are less confident as they deal with persistently high inflation, a job market that had an off-year, and an uncertain impact of tariffs.
The significant dips in some prominent technology companies’ stock prices negatively affected the overall stock market on Tuesday (-1.2% Alphabet), as well as several other sectors in the economy.
Some tech stocks spiked and fell, while other stocks (e.g., software) experienced sharp declines as investors searched for companies vulnerable or at risk for being disrupted/failing due to the integration of AI into their operations.
Compared to the past year when the AI hype cycle was lifting US stock indices to record highs, the market today has rapidly turned against technology and other companies across multiple sectors, including software & trucking.
Since anxiety grows over the potential loss of customers and revenues as a result of new entrants in their respective industries (AI), who will be able to provide more competitive pricing than those companies.
The companies themselves investing heavily in AI are starting to feel the heat, too. Global Fund Managers are concerned about the potential over-investment in AI by businesses that are spending a large amount of dollars on building AI data centres and chips.
These companies will need to see significant profitability and productivity gains from their investments to make their investment worthy. For example, Alphabet said it could double its AI and other technology-related spending to around $180 billion this year.
Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management stated in a commentary that we currently possess a market in which two beliefs are present simultaneously. AI will destroy everything and at times deliver nothing. This is the reason that single stocks are whipsawed despite a trillion-dollar balance sheet.
