Bangkok, Dec 9: Asian shares mostly fell Tuesday after US stocks pulled away from their record heights, while US futures edged higher.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was the main outlier, gaining 0.2 per cent to 50,691.39.
Chinese markets declined as investors watched for news from the Central Economic Work Conference, an annual planning meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s leadership.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.8 per cent to 24,549.54, while the Shanghai Composite index inched 0.1 per cent lower, to 3,918.83.
In South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.3 per cent to 4,140.44 and the Taiex in Taiwan fell 0.5 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gave up 0.2 per cent to 8,607.80 after the Reserve Bank opted to keep its cash rate unchanged at 3.6 per cent.
Computer chip giant Nvidia’s shares climbed 2.3 per cent in afterhours trading after President Donald Trump said he will allow it to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!”
Nvidia’s shares rose 1.7 per cent on Monday.
The move has wide potential ramifications, experts said.
“This would allow China to speed up its buildout of AI infrastructure and increase the likelihood of Chinese AI models matching, or possibly even overtaking, frontier US models,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in an analysis.
Investors are awaited a meeting of the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, where the US central bank is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate to help counter a weakening jobs outlook.
On Monday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3 per cent for its second loss in 11 days, but it remains within 0.6 per cent of its all-time high set in October. It closed at 6,846.51.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4 per cent to 47,739.32, and the Nasdaq composite edged 0.1 per cent lower to 23,545.90.
Netflix dropped 3.4 per cent after Paramount announced a bid in hopes of trumping Netflix’s deal to buy Warner Bros.
Paramount said it’s offering USD 30 for each Warner Bros. Discovery share, as well as a quicker and easier way for investors to get their payout. Paramount is offering to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery in cash, unlike Netflix’s offer of cash and stock for just Warner Bros. following its pending split with Discovery.
The board of directors for Warner Bros. Discovery had agreed to Netflix’s offer last week, but it’s already facing potential scrutiny from federal regulators. President Donald Trump said Sunday that a Netflix-Warner Bros. combination “could be a problem” amid worries about too much industry power sitting at one company
Warner Bros. Discovery rose 4.4 per cent following the hostile buyout bid, and Paramount Skydance’s stock climbed 9 per cent.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, Confluent soared 29.1 per cent after IBM said it would buy the company, which helps customers connect and process data. IBM said the USD 11 billion deal will help customers deploy artificial-intelligence tools better and faster, and its shares added 0.4 per cent.
The US stock market has calmed following weeks of volatility.
Stocks have already run to the edge of their records on widespread expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate for the third time this year. Lower interest rates can give the economy and prices for investments a boost, though their downside is that they can worsen inflation.
The big question is what kind of hints the Fed will offer about where interest rates will go after Wednesday. Many on Wall Street are bracing for talk aimed at tamping down expectations for more cuts in 2026.
Inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2 per cent target, and Fed officials are notably split in their opinions about whether high inflation or the slowing job market is the bigger threat to the economy.
In other dealings early Tuesday, US.benchmark crude oil lost 18 cents to USD 58.70 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, fell 13 cents to USD 62.36 per barrel.
The US dollar rose to 155.96 Japanese yen from 155.92 yen. The euro climbed to USD 1.1646 from USD 1.1638. (AP)
