Asian stocks muted, tech mixed ahead of Nvidia earnings

Regional stocks took a weak lead-in from Wall Street, as technology stocks were pressured by rising yields and U.S. bank shares slid after a series of ratings downgrades.

Concerns over China remained in play after the People’s Bank disappointed markets with a smaller-than-expected interest rate cut this week. Traders were growing increasingly impatient over more stimulus measures promised by the government. 

Chinese stocks were the worst performers for the day, with the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes down 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively. 

Anticipation of more cues on U.S. interest rates from the Jackson Hole Symposium this week also kept traders largely wary of risk-heavy assets, while the dollar and Treasury yields pushed higher. 10-year yields crossed an over 20-year high this week. 

Tech stocks mixed amid higher yields, Nvidia earnings in sight 

Asian tech stocks- particularly chipmakers, had shot up on Tuesday in anticipation of more cues on artificial intelligence demand from NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Nvidia sank from record highs on Tuesday, but is expected to forecast much stronger revenue for the remainder of the year on the back of increasing AI development. 

The world’s most valuable chipmaker will report second-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday.  

Asian tech consolidated most recent gains on Wednesday, also remaining under pressure from elevated U.S. yields and fears of higher-for-longer interest rates.

Japanese chip equipment maker Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) slid nearly 2%, while South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) fell 1.2%. Tech conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) lost 1% as its Arm unit filed for a Nasdaq listing.

On the other hand, positive earnings helped some support regional tech stocks. Baidu Inc’s (NASDAQ:BIDU) Hong Kong shares (HK:9888) surged over 4% after the Chinese search engine clocked much stronger second quarter earnings.

Gains in Baidu helped keep the Hang Seng in positive territory, even as property stocks- chiefly Country Garden Holdings (HK:2007)- continued to see heavy selldowns. 

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TW:2330) (NYSE:TSM) rose 1.3% after it dismissed rumors that its revenue will fall more than initially forecast this year. 

Broader Asian markets kept to a tight range. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2%, buoyed by purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data showing some improvement in local business activity. 

South Korea’s KOSPI sank 0.4%, while futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a marginally positive open. 

Australia’s ASX 200 was the best performer for the day, rising 0.7% after PMI data also pointed to an improvement in manufacturing activity. A batch of strong earnings also helped support the index this week.