Asia - Gold prices extended gains for a second session on Wednesday, rising above $5,000 an ounce, while most Asia-Pacific stock markets declined after losses in US technology shares weighed on sentiment overnight.
Spot gold rose more than 1% to $5,002 per ounce. Spot silver also gained, adding nearly 0.7% to trade at $85.70 per ounce.
Asian equities largely tracked Wall Street’s pullback, where investors moved away from technology stocks.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell about 1.2%, led by losses in technology-related stocks. Chip equipment maker Lasertec dropped around 7%, while game developer Konami Group declined nearly 6%. Semiconductor equipment firm Tokyo Electron fell more than 3%.
The broader Topix index slipped 0.39%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 reversed earlier losses and closed 0.45% higher.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.4%, while the Kosdaq gained just over 1%.
Shares of Nintendo fell more than 9%, despite the company maintaining its full-year sales forecast for its Switch 2 console. Investors continued to assess risks linked to rising memory prices, a key input for gaming hardware.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.28%.
Overnight in the United States, stocks closed lower as technology shares dragged the market down. The S&P 500 fell 0.84%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.34%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.43%.
US technology stocks were broadly weaker. Shares of Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Apple and Nvidia ended lower, while software companies such as ServiceNow and Salesforce fell sharply.
