Asia-Pacific markets showed mixed performance on Wednesday, following losses on Wall Street as a sell-off in technology stocks gained momentum.
By 11:30 am AEDT (12:30 am GMT) Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.3% at 7,840.2, while Japan's Nikkei 225 and South Korea's Kospi 200 added 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively.
Investors are closely monitoring the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) monetary policy decision later in the session, where the central bank is widely expected to maintain its benchmark interest rate at 0.5%.
Overnight, Wall Street struggled to maintain its recent gains, with major U.S. benchmarks closing in the red after two consecutive winning sessions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 260.3 points, or 0.6%, closing at 41,581.3. The S&P 500 lost 1.1% to end at 5,614.7, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.7% to finish at 17,504.1.
Commodities markets were mixed, with Brent crude down 0.7% to $70.56 per barrel, while spot gold surged 1.1% to an all-time high of $3,034.11 per ounce.
Chinese equities recorded modest gains, with the Shanghai Composite adding 0.1% to 3,429.8 and the CSI 300 rising 0.3% to 4,007.7.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index outperformed, climbing 2.5% to 24,740.6, while India’s BSE Sensex advanced 1.5% to 75,301.3.
European markets continued their upward trajectory, with the FTSE 100 gaining 0.3% to 8,705.2. The DAX rose 1% to a record 23,380.7, while the CAC 40 added 0.5% to reach 8,114.6.
