Asian Shares Mixed Amid Tech Rebound

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday after two days of losses. Investors digested mixed U.S. employment data and looked ahead to Thursday's inflation data for fresh insights into the U.S. economic and rate outlook.

The dollar edged up from 2-1/2-month lows in Asian trade and Treasuries trimmed recent gains while gold held firm around $4,320 per ounce.

Oil prices jumped more than 1 percent after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was ordering a "total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers" going into and leaving Venezuela.

Chinese and Hong Kong stocks rose sharply, with technology stocks leading the surge. China's Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.2 percent to 3,870.28 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 0.92 percent to 25,468.78.

MetaX Integrated Circuits, a Chinese chipmaker, saw its shares skyrocketing nearly 700 percent on their debut.

Japanese markets eked out modest gains after data showed the country's trade balance grew much more than expected in November, lifted by a 6.1 percent year on year rise in exports.

Separate data revealed that Japan's core machinery orders, which exclude volatile sectors such as ships and electric power, jumped 7 percent month-over-month in October.

The Nikkei average edged up by 0.26 percent to 49,512.98, rebounding from a two-week low hit in the previous session before the Bank of Japan's rate decision due this week.

The broader Topix index finished marginally lower at 3,369.39. Tech shares followed their U.S. peers higher, with Advantest and Tokyo Electron rising over 1 percent each. Robot maker Fanuc surged 2.1 percent. Seoul stocks rallied as benchmark bond yields fell, the Korean won weakened against the dollar and chip makers rebounded from declines earlier in the week.

The Kospi average surged 1.43 percent to 4,056.41, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rising 4-5 percent.

Australian markets ended slightly lower to extend losses for a third day running. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.16 percent to 8,585.20, with banks leading losses after the government revised its inflation forecast higher, reinforcing views the RBA will raise interest rates in February. The broader All Ordinaries index ended marginally lower at 8.874.20.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index fell 0.96 percent to 13,295.91, hitting a one-month low on worries about a growing trade deficit.

Overnight, U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending narrowly mixed after the release of jobs and retail sales data.

Data showed the U.S. economy shed 105,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate touched 4.6 percent — its highest level since September 2021.

However, 64,000 jobs were added in November, beating analysts' forecasts for an increase of 50,000 jobs.

Rising unemployment kept pressure on the Fed to consider cutting interest rates in the near future, but at the same time raised concerns about the state of the world's largest economy.

U.S. business activity expanded at its weakest pace since June, while retail sales were unexpectedly flat in October as consumers cut back on spending due to rising economic uncertainty, separate set of data revealed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up by 0.2 percent, while the S&P 500 slid 0.2 percent and the Dow dropped 0.6 percent.