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Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks crept lower on Thursday with Hong Kong shares sliding from a three-year peak after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose more global trade tariffs, while positive earnings from Nvidia did little to buoy technology stocks.
Regional technology shares retreated, tracking aftermarket declines in Nvidia. While the company did clock strong earnings and present an upbeat guidance, its shares fell as much as 2% in aftermarket trade, amid a growing storm of external uncertainties over its medium-to-long-term prospects.
Broader Asian markets took middling cues from a flat overnight close on Wall Street, which saw little relief from a raft of recent declines. Sentiment was mixed after Trump said 25% tariffs against Europe could come soon. But he also signaled a potential extension in a March 2 deadline for 25% duties against Canada and Mexico, to early-April.
U.S. stock index futures fell slightly in Asian trade. Investors are now awaiting a slew of key U.S. economic readings, including GDP and PCE price index data, both due in the coming days.
Asian tech falls as Nvidia earnings spark little cheer
Tech-heavy Asian bourses moved in a flat-to-low range on Thursday, with South Korea’s KOSPI losing 0.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell as much as 2% in aftermarket trade, even as its fourth-quarter earnings, guidance, and management commentary presented no clear negative signals.
Analysts said that the company, while healthy, was facing a storm of external, negative factors. Summit Insights downgraded the stock to Hold, stating that the stock no longer presented a favorable risk-reward scenario.
Summit also said that shifting trends in the AI industry- towards inference from training, and towards more efficient models- were likely to dent Nvidia’s medium-to-long-term prospects. The second point in particular was echoed by several analysts over the past month, especially following the release of China’s DeepSeek AI.
Nvidia’s Asian suppliers including TSMC (TW:2330), SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660), and Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857), fell between 0.4% and 4% on Thursday.
Hong Kong falls from 3-yr peak; China dips
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.6% after hitting a three-year high earlier in the session. This came amid some profit-taking in local markets, following a stellar, AI fueled rally over the past month.
Sentiment towards China was also dulled by persistent threats of U.S. trade restrictions and tariffs, after Trump last week signed a sweeping order outlining more measures against Beijing.
Mainland Chinese stocks also retreated, with the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes losing 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
Among broader Asian markets, Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.4%, as positive earnings from Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) and Coles Group (OTC:CLEGF) Ltd (ASX:COL) helped markets look past weak fourth quarter capital expenditure data.
Japan’s TOPIX rose 0.5%, even as retail giant Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO:3382) slid over 10% after the collapse of a privatization deal led by the company’s founding Ito family.
Singapore’s Straits Times index was flat, while futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a flat open, as local stocks nursed an extended rout.