Eschcollection | Digitalvision | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday, tracking Wall Street declines as concerns about artificial intelligence valuations continued to pressure tech stocks.<\/p>\n
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225<\/a> index reversed course to rise 0.5%, while the Topix index added 0.55%. <\/p>\n Technology sector had dragged the Nikkei 225 index lower in early trading, led by semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest which fell more than 4%, last down 1.4%. Semiconductor firm Renesas was trading 4.4% lower.<\/p>\n South Korea’s Kospi index declined 0.67%, and the small-cap Kosdaq retreated 1.02%. Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 2.25% and 2.46%, respectively. <\/p>\n Australia’s ASX\/S&P 200 added 0.11%.<\/p>\n Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index<\/a> rose 0.19%, while the mainland CSI 300 climbed 0.4%. Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech company Xiaomi<\/a>, however, fell more than 4% after the company on Tuesday warned of higher smartphone prices in 2026, on the back of rising costs of memory chips to meet skyrocketing AI demand.<\/p>\n U.S. equity futures were little changed in early Asian hours after the key indexes fell Tuesday stateside.<\/p>\n Overnight, the\u00a0Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a>\u00a0shed 498.50 points, or 1.07%, to settle at 46,091.74. The\u00a0S&P 500<\/a>\u00a0lost 0.83% to end the day at 6,617.32. It was the broad-based index’s fourth straight losing session, making for its longest slide since August. The\u00a0Nasdaq Composite<\/a>\u00a0declined 1.21% to finish at 22,432.85. <\/p>\n The session saw the\u00a0Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a>\u00a0also drop for a fourth consecutive day, while the tech-heavy\u00a0Nasdaq Composite<\/a>\u00a0recorded its fifth negative day in six sessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n