Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Wednesday as oil prices climbed and yields rebounded on fears Iran is stepping up attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said there had been nine attacks so far this month, half the number it reported for all of September in the waterway and the Gulf combined.
In a statement on the social media platform X, Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed it had carried out a series of drone and ballistic missile attacks targeting airports and military installations in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis also denied being pushed back by government forces after Yemen’s military said it had removed the pro-Iranian group from areas around the Bab al-Mandab strait – a Red Sea chokepoint – and the port city of Mocha.
Technology stocks came under the spotlight after the Financial Times, the British business daily, reported that US space company SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, wants to raise $40 billion to buy chips from US chipmaker Nvidia.
Investors also awaited preliminary third-quarter earnings from South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics for fresh signals about demand for artificial intelligence-related chips.
The US dollar held on to its losses as stress in European bond markets abated and traders awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, as well as speeches by Federal Reserve officials, for additional clues about the path ahead.
Gold fell almost 1% towards $4,100 an ounce, with inflationary risks and rate-hike concerns in focus.
Brent crude futures rose about 1% towards $102 a barrel, extending gains from the previous session amid persistent risks to Middle East energy flows.
Chinese markets remained closed for the National Day holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.62% to 24,130.50 after two days of gains.
Technology stocks came under selling pressure, with Chinese artificial intelligence developer Minimax tumbling 4.6% and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba losing 2.8%.
Japanese markets ended sharply lower as investors closely watched developments in the Middle East conflict and scaled back Bank of Japan rate-hike bets.
The Nikkei average fell 0.92% to 70,035.71, giving up early gains because of profit-taking in AI and semiconductor-related names. The broader Topix index settled 0.7% lower at 4,154.11.
Among prominent decliners, Japanese semiconductor equipment maker Disco plummeted 6.3%, Japanese memory-chip maker Kioxia Holdings slumped 4.5%, Japanese semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron shed 2.4% and Japanese chip-testing equipment maker Advantest dipped 1.3%.