BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly lower Wednesday in Asia after a rare quiet day on Wall Street and in other global financial markets.
U.S. futures and oil prices also fell.
Also, chip maker Nvidia’s shares fell 6.3% in after-hours trading after it said the U.S. had imposed stricter controls on its exports of one of its computer chips designed for use in artificial intelligence.
Stocks in China led the regional declines after the Chinese government reported the world’s second largest economy grew at a strong 5.4% annual rate in the last quarter, helped by strong industrial production, retail sales and exports. But in quarterly terms, growth slowed to 1.2% in January-March from 1.6% in the last quarter of 2024.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.5% to 20,922.54, while the Shanghai Composite index gave up 0.9% to 3,237.60.
Private sector economists have been downgrading their forecasts after President Donald Trump recently pushed his tariffs on most imports from China to 145%, while China raised its duties on imports from the U.S. to 125%.
Analysts at ANZ Research said activity in the current quarter is already weakening.
“Our view is that the tariff shock is caused by the unpredictability rather than the tariff itself. President Trump’s announcements have affected business sentiment and activity,” Raymond Yeung and other ANZ researchers said in a report after the China data was released.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index shed 0.9% to 22,948.18.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7% to 2,461.45, while in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 7,781.10.
India’s Sensex was little changed and Bangkok’s SET rose 0.2%.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks drifted, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.2% to 5,396.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 40,368.96, and the Nasdaq composite edged less than 0.1% lower to 16,823.17.
Uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariffs kept investors watching to see what comes next.
The U.S. bond market appeared to calm after its sudden and sharp moves last week shook confidence in the status of U.S. government bonds as a safe haven against risks.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury was steady at 4.33%, down from 4.38% late Monday and 4.48% at the end of last week. A week earlier it had been at just 4.01%. Yields usually drop when investors are jittery, so this week’s moves have offered reassurance.
The value of the U.S. dollar also steadied after tumbling last week, raising more worries that Trump’s trade war also may be undermining its status as a safe-haven investment.
DaVita sank 3% for a second straight drop after it said a ransomware attack is affecting some of its operations. The health care company said it’s still investigating the attack, which it learned about Saturday, and that it can’t yet know the “full scope, nature, and potential ultimate impact.”
