Asian shares mostly lower as tech rally cools amid US shutdown progress

Asian shares were mostly lower on Tuesday as the recent rebound fuelled by buying of technology shares lost steam.

Markets showed little reaction to the latest step toward ending the US shutdown, after the Senate passed legislation to reopen the government.

US futures were little changed and oil prices slipped.

Shares have been bouncing on criticism that tech share prices have shot too high due to the mania for artificial intelligence, which some have likened to the 2000 dot-com bubble that ultimately burst.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.5 per cent to 50,675.92.

The US dollar climbed to 154.15 against the Japanese yen, from 154.14 yen, near its highest since February. Expectations that the government will push back its schedule for trimming Japan's huge national debt and boost spending have helped to weaken the yen.

 

The euro inched up to $1.1563 from USD 1.1557.

Chinese shares also declined. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index fell 0.2 per cent to 26,595.97 and the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.4 per cent to 4,002.06.

South Korea's Kospi, recovering from last week's fell below the 4,000 level, initially rose more than 1 per cent but finished up 0.4 per cent at 4,087.56.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.2 per cent to 8,818.80.

Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.3 per cent, while the Sensex in India shed 0.4 per cent.

On Monday, Big Tech and other superstars of the US stock market got back to rallying, and Wall Street recovered most of its loss from last week.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.5 per cent to 6,832.43, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8 per cent to 47,368.63.

The Nasdaq composite rallied 2.3 per cent to 23,527.17.

Nvidia was by far the strongest force lifting the market and leaped 5.8 per cent.

It was a powerful rebound after Nvidia and other winners of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology led last week's drop. Critics say their stock prices shot too high and too fast in the AI mania, drawing comparisons to the 2000 dot-com bubble that ultimately burst.

Drops for several health insurers helped keep the market's gains in check.

They fell as uncertainty remains about whether Washington will extend expiring health care tax credits, a sticking point on Capitol Hill that's created the longest-ever shutdown for the US government.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Berkshire Hathaway slipped 0.4 per cent as its CEO, famed investor Warren Buffett, warned shareholders that many other companies will fare better in the decades ahead because of Berkshire Hathaway's massive size. Buffett, 95, is set to step down in January.

Tyson Foods climbed 2.3 per cent after the seller of chicken, beef and pork reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Roughly four out of every five companies in the S&P 500 that have so far reported their results for the summer have also topped analysts' profit expectations, according to FactSet.

Companies usually beat analysts' estimates each quarter, but the pressure was high this time around because they needed to justify the big moves upward for their stock prices since April.

Delivering bigger profits is one of the easier ways companies can quiet criticism that their stock prices have become too expensive.

In other dealings early Tuesday, US benchmark crude oil lost 25 cents to USD 59.88 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 25 cents to USD 63.81 per barrel.