Asian stocks today: Markets inch higher ahead of US economic and job data; Nikkei up 2%, HSI adds 97 points
The cautious mood followed a mixed performance on Wall Street, where technology stocks shed earlier gains.
Traders remain concerned about high valuations and the massive amounts of money being channelled into artificial intelligence. Attention is now turning to a fresh batch of US data, with jobs numbers due later in the day and inflation figures expected towards the end of the week.
Together, they are seen as crucial in shaping expectations for the Federal Reserve ahead of its March policy gathering. Data released by the US Commerce Department on Tuesday showed retail sales in the United States were unchanged in December, after rising 0.6 per cent in November. The reading gives policymakers some space to consider reducing borrowing costs next month, after they left rates unchanged in January following three straight cuts. But it also highlights signs of caution among consumers, who play a central role in driving growth, and points to the risk of further economic weakness. Some analysts cautioned that the long-standing belief that poor data automatically boosts markets because it raises the chance of rate cuts may no longer hold.
In the United States, the Dow managed to edge to another record high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped, with technology shares among the biggest decliners. There was little response to data indicating that consumer inflation in China slowed last month.
Still, unease around the technology sector persisted.
Investors are wary that the hundreds of billions of dollars being poured into AI projects may not deliver returns any time soon.
