Asia report: Shares mixed despite Wall Street surge

(Sharecast News) - Asian shares were mixed as investors looked for direction despite fresh record highs on Wall Street overnight after chip giant Nvidia said it would invest $100bn in OpenAI.

Wall St markets hit fresh records as Nvidia announced it would make the investment in OpenAI's data centres. Volumes were thinner in the region with the Tokyo market closed for a national holiday. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4% to 8,845.90 on the back of soaring precious metals prices.

South Korea's Kospi added 0.6% to 3,488.23. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 1.0% to 26,080.91and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.7% to 3,800.21 amid continuing worries over US tariffs.

Traders were also assessing comments from the US ambassador to China stating that a meeting between the autocratic US and Chinese presidents was more likely to take place next year than this autumn.

"We're looking forward to getting together, as President (Donald) Trump said, and potentially in the near future, but certainly next year" Ambassador David Perdue on Tuesday said during a news conference with a group of US lawmakers on a visit to Beijing.

Trump last week said he and President Xi Jinping agreed to meet around a multilateral summit in South Korea next month, adding he would visit China early next year, followed by a visit from Xi to the US.

India's Sensex rallied to register a 0.14% gain despite threats of a sharp increase in H-1B visa costs to $100,000 weighing on market sentiment.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com