Hong Kong stocks surged by over 2% while broader Asia-Pacific markets displayed mixed performance following Wednesday’s losses on Wall Street. Investor sentiment was influenced by Japan’s trade data and a decline in business sentiment among major manufacturers.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose by 2.36%, driven by gains in property, technology, and healthcare stocks. China’s CSI 300 also traded higher, up by 2.55%.
However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 experienced a decline of 0.34% as Japanese manufacturers reported a sharp drop in business confidence for February, with a reading of -1 compared to the previous month’s 6, according to the Reuters Tankan poll. This marks the first negative reading since April last year.
The latest data follows Japan’s recent entry into a technical recession and its loss of the position as the world’s third-largest economy to Germany.
The Reuters Tankan poll is considered a key indicator for the Bank of Japan’s official survey.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi slipped by 0.29%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.66% lower at 7,608.4.
In the U.S. overnight, all three major indexes concluded the trading session in negative territory, with Nvidia spearheading a broader tech decline ahead of the chipmaker’s earnings report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 64.19 points, or 0.17%, settling at 38,563.80. Similarly, the S&P 500 slipped by 0.6% to close at 4,975.51. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite experienced a loss of 0.92%, ending the session at 15,630.78.