On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1% on Wednesday as investors tried to figure out how fast the Federal Reserve will roll back economic stimulus to cool inflation.
Markets seemed to take in stride comments by U.S. President Joe Biden about the status of the lingering tariff war with Beijing. "I'd like to be able to be in a position where I could say they're meeting the commitments, more of their commitments, and be able to lift some of them," he said. "But we're not there yet."
The Kospi in Seoul added 0.5% to 2,855.30 while Sydney's S&P ASX 200 gained less than 0.1% to 7,339.30. Apple shed 2.1% and chipmaker Nvidia fell 3.2%. The technology sector of the S&P 500 has fallen more than 8% this year. Stocks have slid since Fed officials said in mid-December plans to wind down bond purchases and other stimulus that are boosting share prices would be accelerated due to the spike in U.S. inflation to a four-decade high.