Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday amid Wall Street’s declines after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that “equity prices are fairly highly valued.”
Powell also signaled that the rate-cutting path wasn’t clear and that the central bank faces a “challenging situation.”
Japanese markets opened once again Wednesday after the day off Tuesday and gained 136.53 points, or 0.3%, to 45,630.31.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng revived 359.53 points, or 1.4%, to 26,518.65.
Super Typhoon Ragasa brought hurricane-force winds to high grounds and southern areas in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Observatory said. Conditions remain severe, with heavy showers and thunderstorms expected.
Shares of Alibaba listed in Hong Kong jumped over 6% after CEO Eddie Wu said Wednesday that the company will boost its investment in artificial intelligence.
Alibaba is moving forward with the 380-billion-yuan ($53-billion) investment in AI infrastructure and intends to increase it further, Wu said in the company’s annual Apsara Conference in Hangzhou. The company also unveiled its largest AI language model, Qwen3-Max.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced Tuesday that Anna Breman would be the new governor of the central bank, marking the first time a woman has held the role. She will commence her five-year term on December 1.
Christian Hawkesby served as the RBNZ’s acting governor since March, after the unexpected departure of Adrian Orr. His interim six-month appointment is set to conclude in October.
Australia’s CPI for August rose 3% year on year, above the 2.9% estimate by economists in a Reuters poll.
Korean equities lost some ground. However, South Korean defense stocks defied the weakness, with major players such as Hanwha Aerospace, Korea Aerospace, and Hyundai Rotem posting gains of between 2% and 5%.
Their rally comes as President Donald Trump voiced support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and said that the U.S. will continue to supply weapons to NATO for the military alliance “to do what they want with them.” South Korea has emerged as a major supplier of military equipment and munitions to NATO members.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 bounced 46.29 points, or 0.3%, to 4,566.07
In Korea, the Kospi shed 14.05 points, or 0.4% to 3,472.14
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index let go of 12.27 points, or 0.3%, to 4,290.40.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index faded 50.64 points, or 0.2%, to 26,196.73
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 44.77 points, or 0.3%, to 13,181.31.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dipped 81.47 points, or 0.9%, to 8,764.46
