Asian equities rise as technology advances

While Australian shares plummeted significantly as worries about rising interest rates intensified due to hotter-than-expected inflation statistics, most Asian equities edged higher on Wednesday, mirroring advances in the technology sector.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite ended higher on Wall Street thanks to a rally in heavyweight chipmaking firms, especially NVIDIA. Regional markets were able to follow suit. However, economically sensitive companies sold down, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing lower due to concerns about an impending inflation figure.

With a 1% decline, Australia's ASX 200 index was the worst-performing benchmark in Asia following May's consumer price index inflation data that was higher than anticipated.

The Reserve Bank of Australia was expected to raise interest rates in August, according to the reading. At a meeting last week, the central bank surprised investors by taking a more hawkish stance than anticipated, even though it hasn't specifically indicated the likelihood of raising interest rates.

The RBA's 2% to 3% annual goal range for inflation was indicated by Wednesday's CPI figure, which is expected to lead to greater hawkishness from the central bank. Following the print, Australian bond rates also spiked higher.

Asia's top performer was Japan's Nikkei 225 index, which increased 0.9% due to advances in large technology sectors, especially chipmakers. The KOSPI in South Korea increased by 0.3% due to gains in chipmakers.

Chipmakers rose in tandem with Nvidia's overnight recovery, as the artificial intelligence darling turned around after three days of sharp losses.

Chinese equities are once again showing weakness as trade tensions remain.

Concerns about a possible trade war with the West persisted, particularly when Beijing raised the prospect in response to European levies on Chinese electric car imports. As a result, sentiment towards China remained mostly tense.

Chinese indices saw sharp losses during June because to fears of a trade war, and optimism for more stimulus measures in the nation also faded.

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)