Asia-Pacific markets track Wall Street declines as rotation out of tech continues
People enjoy the first sunrise of the new year from a footbridge with a view of the city skyline in Seoul on January 1, 2024.
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets experienced a downturn on Thursday as investors on Wall Street shifted away from tech stocks.
Stocks related to artificial intelligence took a hit following reports that Blue Owl Capital, a major investor in Oracle, withdrew funding from one of its data center projects, causing a 5.4% drop in the AI stock.
Other AI-related stocks such as Broadcom, Nvidia, and Advanced Micro Devices also saw declines.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan is set to begin a two-day meeting, with expectations of a rate hike to 0.75% on Friday, the highest level in three decades.
Japanese markets, including the Nikkei 225 and Topix, recorded losses, with Softbank Group Corp leading the decline.
In South Korea, the Kospi and Kosdaq were down, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped.
Woodside Energy shares in Australia dropped after the CEO resigned to join BP.
In the US, all major indexes closed lower, with the Nasdaq Composite seeing the largest drop.
Traders are anticipating the release of the US consumer price index for November, expected to show a 3.1% year-over-year increase in inflation.
—Contributions by CNBC’s Lim Hui Jie, Pia Singh, Sean Conlon, and Liz Napolitano.
