Investing.com — Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, with Chinese markets seeing sustained losses after the U.S. added more major companies to its blacklist, while Japanese markets fell after government officials warned against intervention in the currency market.
Regional markets showed some resilience in the face of negative advances from Wall Street, as a mix of losses in technology stocks and concern over interest rates weighed on US stock indexes on Tuesday.
Losses at NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:) were the biggest on Wall Street, as a wave of new products from the company failed to lift its stock price.
Wall Street futures rose slightly in Asian trading on Wednesday.
South Korean stocks were an outlier, rising 1.1%. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd (KS:), the largest stock on the index, rose 2.7% even though fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations by a wide margin.
Australia's index rose 0.6% after data showed inflation grew more than expected in November. But the slight decline in core inflation has prompted bets that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates sooner rather than later.
Singapore's index rose 0.4%, while India's index pointed to a positive opening, ahead of a barrage of key earnings expected in the coming days.
While Asian stocks saw some gains this week, they are still suffering from a weak start to 2025 amid growing uncertainty over US interest rates and policy under incoming President Donald Trump.
Chinese stocks continue their losses after the United States added more companies to the blacklist
The China and Hong Kong indices fell by about 0.8% each, while the Hong Kong index fell by 0.9%.
Chinese officials criticized the US government's decision earlier this week to add technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:) and battery maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:) to Contemporary Amperex Technology (SZ:) to a blacklist of companies with ties to the US military.
This move further strains relations between the world's largest economies, and comes at a time when the next Trump is preparing to impose heavy trade tariffs on the country.
Trump denied reports earlier this week that his administration would impose less stringent tariffs than he initially indicated.
Among individual carriers, BYD (HK:) stock fell more than 2% in Hong Kong trade after Reuters reported that the company would be fined for allegedly violating labor laws at a factory in Brazil.
Japanese stocks decline after yen warning
The Japanese index fell by 0.3%, while it fell by 0.8% after both indices recorded strong gains in the previous session.
Local markets were concerned as government officials warned that further weakness in the currency could call for intervention in the currency market. The yen fell to its lowest level in six months this week.
Any intervention is likely to lead to a sharp rebound in the yen, which in turn could put pressure on Japanese exporters, who make up the bulk of the Nikkei's weighting.
