TOKYO -- Asian shares mostly gained in cautious trading Wednesday after most U.S.stocks rose, settling back to where they were before last week’s swoon over the future of artificial intelligence.
U.S.futures edged higher while oil prices declined.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to finish at 51,063.31.SoftBank Group's shares fell 3.5%, plunging as much as 9% earlier in the day, after it said Tuesday that it sold its entire stake in the AI chip company Nvidia for $5.83 billion last month, raising funds for other investments.A big question has been whether investors will push the frenzy around AI stocks further.
Their sensational growth has been one of the top reasons the U.S.market has hit records despite a slowing job market and still-high inflation.
But their prices have shot so high that critics say they’re reminiscent of the 2000 dot-com bubble, which ultimately burst and dragged the S&P 500 down by nearly half.Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8% to 26,913.90, while the Shanghai Composite edged up less than 0.1% to 4,006.17.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.2% to 8,799.50.
South Korea’s Kospi added 1.1% to 4,151.36.On Tuesday, the S&P 500 added 0.2% to 6,846.61.
It’s been bouncing around lately, coming off Monday’s vigorous rebound following its first losing week in four.The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.2%, to a record close of 47,927.96, surpassing its prior all-time high set two weeks ago.The Nasdaq composite lagged the market as Nvidia slipped 3% due to continued concerns that stocks caught up in the artificial-intelligence frenzy may have become too expensive.
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