BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares are mixed after a rebound for Nvidia propped up a weakened Wall Street.
Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.4% to 39,726.39, buoyed by strong demand for technology shares driven by the enthusiasm over Nvidia and artificial intelligence.
Tokyo Electron gained 3.2% and Advantest Corp. soared 6.6%. Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. added 1.3%.
The Kospi in Seoul was up 0.2% at 2,781.15.
Chinese shares retreated. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged 0.1% lower to 18,052.55 and the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.5% to 2,936.71.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.9% to 7,765.40.
Shares rose in Taiwan and India and edged higher in Thailand.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and neared its all-time high set a week earlier, closing at 5,469.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which does not include Nvidia, dropped 0.8% to 39,112.16, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.3% to 17,717.65.
Most stocks outside Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology fell. Nvidia climbed 6.8%, and without that gain, the S&P 500 would have dropped to a loss for the day. The chip company’s shares snapped a three-day losing streak where they had shed nearly 13% for their worst such stretch since 2022.
Nvidia has the power to swing the S&P 500 around because it’s grown to become one of Wall Street’s largest and most influential companies.
Voracious demand for its chips to power artificial-intelligence applications has been a big reason for the U.S. stock market’s run to records recently, even as the economy’s growth slows under the weight of high interest rates. But the AI boom has been so frenzied that it’s raised worries about a possible bubble in the stock market and too-high expectations among investors.
SolarEdge Technologies dropped 20.6% after it said a customer that owes it $11.4 million filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which raises questions about how much the solar-power company can collect and when. The smaller companies in the Russell 2000 index also fell 0.4%.
Broadly, sales at retailers across the country have been up and down recently as companies highlight how lower-income customers are struggling to keep up with still-rising prices. The job market, though, still looks mostly solid. A report on Tuesday also showed confidence among U.S. consumers fell this month, but not by quite as much as economists expected.
Upper-income households seem to be doing better, and they’re booking trips on cruise ships. Carnival steamed 8.7% higher after it raised its profit forecast for 2024. The cruise company said bookings for the rest of the year are the best on record in terms of both price and occupancy. And bookings for next year may end up even better.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 21.43 points to 5,469.30. The Dow dropped 299.05 to 39,112.16, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 220.84 to 17,717.65.
It’s been mostly falling since topping 4.70% in late April, which has relaxed the pressure on the stock market. Yields have sunk on hopes that inflation is slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate later this year.
The Fed has been keeping the federal funds rate at the highest level in more than 20 years, hoping to grind down on the economy just enough to get inflation under control. The hope on Wall Street is that the Fed will cut interest rates at the exact right time. If it waits too long, the economy’s slowdown could careen into a recession. If it’s too early, inflation could reaccelerate.
In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil picked up 29 cents to $81.12 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard, was up 31 cents at $85.32 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 159.79 Japanese yen from 159.63 yen. The euro was nearly unchanged at $1.0715.
AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in New York. World stocks are mixed after another slide for Wall Street heavyweight Nvidia kept U.S. indexes mixed Monday, even as the majority of stocks rallied. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown on June 11, 2024 in New York. European markets have opened with gains on Monday, June 24, 2024, and Asian benchmarks retreated after U.S. stocks coasted to the close of their latest winning week. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings.
A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for “erasing our border.”
“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,” he said. “We’re going to liberate the country.”
Trump hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration.
Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris' father, how his beach body was better than President Joe Biden's, and a fly that was buzzing near him.
“I wonder where the fly came from,” he said. "Two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly. But we can’t take it any longer. We can’t take it any longer.”
Trump repeatedly brought up Harris' Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden's executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump's handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump “prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”
“I had to sit there and listen" to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. “And who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It’s all lies. Everything she says is lies.”
The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as “mentally impaired” and a “disaster.”
Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party.
Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were “two very different visions for our nation” and voters see it “every day on the campaign trial.”
“Donald Trump is the same old tired show,” she said. “The same tired playbook we have heard for years.”
She Trump was “a very unserious man." “However the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious.”
At Trump's event, on either side of the stage were poster-sized mug shots of men in the U.S. illegally accused of a crime, including Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a case Trump cited in his speech.
Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have cited the story of Coronel Zarate's arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes across the United States, not just in southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on Sept. 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic abuse. His lawyers declined to comment.
Police Chief Kyle Teynor posted statements on Facebook saying that Coronel Zarate is not a U.S. citizen and that he had two fake immigration documents, including a fake Social Security card. The chief added that Coronel Zarate’s tattoos indicate he’s affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, which started in Venezuelan prisons and is posing a growing threat in the U.S.
Speaking to the crowd Saturday, Teynor stressed to the crowd that Coronel Zarate is the only Venezuelan gang member his agency has encountered, but the violence his two alleged victims suffered at his hands earlier this month was very real.
Republicans including U.S. Sen. Derrick Van Orden, who is from Prairie du Chien, have criticized authorities in both Minneapolis and Madison for letting Coronel Zarate go, saying they essentially allowed him to attack the woman in Prairie du Chien. They have accused both jurisdictions of being sanctuaries for people in the country illegally.
Van Orden told the crowd Trump was the only one who could restore order.
“You’re going to see the one man who has enough strength and courage of conviction to stand up to anyone up to and including being shot in the head for us," he said.
Long reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Will Weissert reported from San Francisco.
Supporters cheer as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Supporters wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Supporters wait for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Merchandise vendor Sam Smith, of Sarasota, Fla., stands with his dog Milo while waiting for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
A supporter waits for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
A supporter waits for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Supporters pose for a photo while waiting for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump to arrive at a rally, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a town hall event at Macomb Community College Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
