Most Asian stocks moved in a tight range on Wednesday, with technology shares on the backfoot in anticipation of key earnings from artificial intelligence bellwether Nvidia Corp .
Regional markets took middling cues from a mildly positive overnight session on Wall Street, as investors fretted over the Federal Reserve’s independence, amid efforts by President Donald Trump to fire Governor Lisa Cook.
S&P 500 Futures rose slightly in Asian trade, with focus largely on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). The company will report its second-quarter earnings after the U.S. market close on Wednesday.
Chinese stocks upbeat on tech strength; Nvidia awaited China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes rose 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively, remaining close to multi-year highs hit earlier this week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.1% on some strength in local tech stocks, especially chipmakers.
Chinese chip stocks were on a tear in August amid growing bets that the country’s top AI developers will resort to more locally-sourced chips over foreign offerings.
Chinese AI chips maker Cambricon Technologies Corp Ltd (SS:688256) rose 3.5%, after the company reported a record profit for the first half of 2025.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (HK:0981), China’s biggest chipmaker by volume, rose 5.3%, while Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd (HK:1347) rose 2.2%.
Among other stocks, shares of Apple Inc supplier Lens Technology soared nearly 12% in Hong Kong trade, extending a stellar rally from earlier this week after the firm logged strong half-year earnings. . Optimism over Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 line also boosted the stock, after Apple set a September 9 date to unveil the line. Other Apple suppliers including AAC Technologies Holdings Inc (HK:2018), Luxshare Precision Industry Co Ltd (SZ:002475), and Goertek Inc (SZ:002241), rose between 0.5% and 2.5%.
Beijing was seen scrutinizing a locally-sold Nvidia AI chip, the H20, earlier this month, while also promoting the use of Chinese-made chips.
Nvidia’s outlook on Chinese sales will be a key point of focus when the chipmaker reports earnings later on Wednesday. Its results are also expected to act as a bellwether for the broader tech sector, amid growing doubts over the long-term profitability of AI.
This notion kept broader Asian markets on edge. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes steadied after hitting record highs at the beginning of the week.
South Korea’s KOSPI was flat, with major Nvidia supplier SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) down 1.7%. Shares of stationery firm Monami (KS:005360) rallied to a 19-month high after U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week complimented a pen used by South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung, amid misguided speculation that the pen was made by Monami.
Singapore’s Straits Times index shed 0.1%.
Australian stocks steady amid mixed earnings, hot CPI Australia’s ASX 200 index rose 0.2%, moving little as investors grappled with a barrage of mixed cues.
Gains in the mining stocks supported the index, especially as a recent mine closure by Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) pushed up iron ore prices.
