Asia-Pacific shares closed mixed on Thursday in lackluster trade, as investors continue to parse comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell who indicated there could be multiple rate hikes ahead.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 40.15 points, or 0.1%, to 33,234.14. On the economic front, official data showed Japanese retail sales rose 5.7% year-on-year in May.
Japan and South Korea are slated to discuss a currency swap deal in what would be their first bilateral finance meeting in seven years, according to Reuters. Korean markets declined Thursday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 237.69 points, or 1.2%, to 18.934.36.
Shares of Asian chipmakers rose after Micron Technology’s third quarter earnings beat estimates on the back of higher demand for its memory chips driven by the booming AI sector.
Japanese semiconductor company Electron was up 3.26%. Hong Kong-listed Hua Hong Semiconductor added 1.82%, and South Korea’s SK Hynix traded 1.67% higher.
South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics is at its highest since March last year, trading higher by 0.14% today. SK Hynix is up 1.66%
In other markets
Markets in Singapore were shuttered for holiday.
The CSI 300 settled 18.96 points, or 0.5%, to 3,821.24.
In Korea, the Kospi Index lost 14.17 points, or 0.6%, to 2,550.12.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index inched ahead 6.67 points to 16,942.30.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 74.66 points, or 0.6%, to 11,808.12.
In Australia, ASX 200 declined 1.63 points to 7,194.91.
