Asian markets were broadly higher on Thursday following a mixed finish on Wall Street, where major stocks such as Nvidia and Palantir trimmed earlier steep losses.

Investors are closely watching the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming for signals on U.S. monetary policy. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Friday. While the Fed has held interest rates steady this year amid concerns over inflation from President Donald Trump’s tariffs, a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report is drawing attention. Minutes from the Fed’s July 29-30 meeting, released Wednesday, showed officials remain more concerned about inflation than potential job losses.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% to 42,636.74 as Japan’s factory activity remained in contraction for a second month. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.1% to 25,135.09, while Shanghai rose 0.4% to 3,779.52. South Korea’s Kospi and Australia’s S&P ASX 200 both gained 1%, Taiwan’s TAIEX climbed 1.2%, and India’s Sensex added 0.1%.

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On Wall Street, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% to 6,395.78, the Dow Jones edged up less than 0.1% to 44,938.31, and the Nasdaq fell 0.7% to 21,172.86. Nvidia, which drives much of the AI market, pared an early 3.9% loss to finish down 0.1%, while Palantir added to previous declines amid skepticism over returns from generative AI investments and concerns over inflated valuations.

In commodities, U.S. crude rose 30 cents to $63.01 per barrel, Brent added 26 cents to $67.10. The dollar strengthened to 147.37 yen, while the euro slipped to $1.1648.

Source: Agency