International
Asian Markets Mixed at Wednesday's Close Amid Tech Stock Rally, Uncertain US-Iran Peace Deal
Asian markets were mixed at Wednesday's close as Wall Street's technology rally overnight matched ongoing uncertainty over a potential US-Iran peace deal.Hong Kong stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as elevated oil prices and uncertainty over the durability of the US-Iran ceasefire weighed on sentiment.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 3.32 points, marginally increasing to 64,999.41 at Wednesday's close.Leading the upside was SHIFT with a 6.1% gain, while bottom performers include SoftBank Group, which lost 7.3% on the day.In regional news, Bloomberg News reported that Japan's 40-year government bonds attracted greater demand compared with its 12-month average as investors flocked to higher yields. Wednesday's sale saw the bid-to-cover ratio reaching 2.70, greater than the 2.54 at the last auction, the report said.Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.1%, or 271.22 points, to close at 25,328.23. The Hang Seng TECH Index was down 0.8%.Top movers include Contemporary Amperex Technology, with a 6.4% increase, while CSPC Pharmaceutical Group fell by 5.4% after the session.On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite declined by 1.3% or 51.65 points, to 4,093.73.In economic news, Chinese industrial profits jumped 24.7% year over year in April, rebounding to another record high during the month, led by technology-related goods, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.For other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 2.3%; the Taiwan TWSE advanced by 1.7%; the Australian ASX 200 was up 0.7%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.8%, and the Thai Set inclined 1.1%.MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index was up 0.7%.
Hang SengNikkei 225Shanghai Composite