Investing.com– Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as technology shares, especially those in Japan, recouped a measure of recent losses, although concerns over the impact of artificial intelligence on the sector still persisted.
Markets in China, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, keeping broader trading volumes largely muted.
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Asian stocks took some positive cues from Wall Street, which firmed mildly in overnight trade on a mixed recovery in tech. were flat at 22:36 ET (03:36 GMT), with focus turning to a host of upcoming cues on the U.S. economy in the coming days.
Chief among these is the of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting, due later in the day, and data– the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge– due on Friday.
Japan recovers on tech gains
Japan’s index rose 1.1%, while the added 1.4% as both indexes recovered from steep losses logged earlier this week.
Tech shares were among the best performers on the Nikkei, recovering from weeks of steep losses.
Broader Japanese shares also benefited from bargain buying after two days of sharp losses, which were sparked by dismal fourth-quarter data released on Monday.
Stronger-than-expected trade data for January, released on Wednesday, also provided some support, with the print showing Japan’s key surged much more than expected in the month.
But the country’s unexpectedly fell, while Japan still clocked a for the month.
Australia shares upbeat, India clocks muted open
Australia’s index rose 0.4%, extending gains from the prior session. CSL Ltd (ASX:) was the among biggest boosts to the index, rising 0.6% on a licensing deal with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:).
On the other hand, BHP Group Ltd (ASX:) fell 1.6% from record highs after clocking stellar first-half earnings on Tuesday. Santos Ltd (ASX:) fell 1.7% after clocking a 25% slide in its annual profit, while Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX:) also fell on weak earnings.
Australian data showed incomes grew mostly as expected in the December quarter, pointing to continued resilience in the economy. But the print also spurred more concerns over sticky Australian inflation.
India’s index moved little in morning trade, as local software names struggled to recover from bruising losses over the past week.
Indian software majors such as Infosys Ltd (NSE:), Wipro Ltd (NSE:), and HCL Infosystems Ltd (NSE:) had plummeted through February on concerns that developments in AI agents and software could eat into their market share.
Global tech and software stocks had also fallen on this notion, especially after AI major Anthropic released new software tools.