Equity markets in Asia diverged on Tuesday as investors assessed the latest escalation in U.S.-China tensions over access to advanced semiconductor technology.
Stocks gained in China despite The Wall Street Journal reporting that the Biden administration plans to restrict Chinese companies’ access to U.S. cloud-computing services, which use advanced artificial-intelligence chips.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.6%, with Chinese e-commerce company
JD.com
(ticker: JD) among the strongest gainers, rising 2.5%.
The stocks of China’s biggest technology companies were largely rising despite geopolitical concerns, underlined by Beijing’s announcement on Monday of planned restrictions on exports of key chip-making minerals. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to China on Thursday in an effort to ease tension between the two governments.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dropped 1%, dragged by falls in pharmaceutical and machinery stocks. Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.5% after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its official interest rate on hold at 4.10% on Tuesday.
Write to Adam Clark at [email protected]
Read the full article here
