Global shares are mixed, while Labubu maker Pop Mart soars 12.5% in Hong
Kong
[August 20, 2025] By
YURI KAGEYAMA
TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mostly lower on Wednesday, tracking a
decline on Wall Street led by technology shares including Nvidia and
other artificial-intelligence stars.
France's CAC 40 slipped 0.1% to 7,967.89, while in Germany the DAX
dipped 0.4% to 24,333.63. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.1% to 9,177.91.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.2%
lower.
In Asia, benchmarks fell in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, weighed down
by selling of shares in computer chip-related companies.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 1.5% to close at 42,888.55.
Japan reported its exports fell slightly more than expected in July,
down 2.6% from the same month a year ago, pressured by higher tariffs on
goods shipped to the U.S. Imports also fell, dropping 7.5% from a year
ago. Exports to the U.S. fell 10.1%, while imports slipped 0.8%.
Computer-chip equipment makers Advantest plunged 5.7% and Disco Corp.
dropped 4.9%. Chip maker Tokyo Electron lost 1.4%. and Lasertec Corp.
lost 1.7%.
The Taiex in Taiwan fell 3.0% after chip maker TSMC dropped 4.2%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained nearly 0.2% to 25,165.94, while the
Shanghai Composite index gained 1.0% to 3,766.21 after China’s central
bank opted to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged, as markets had
expected.
Chinese toy company Pop Mart International Group's shares traded in Hong
Kong soared 12.5% after its CEO said its annual revenue could top $4
billion this year, more than quadrupling after more than doubling in the
first half of the year. Its CEO also announced that the company was
releasing a mini version of its popular Labubu dolls.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained nearly 0.3% to 8,918.00.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.7% to 3,130.09, after North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un condemned South Korean-U.S. military drills that began this
week. He vowed a rapid expansion of his nuclear forces to counter
rivals, according to North Korean state media.
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A dealer talks near screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price
Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S.
dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul,
South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man
 The week’s headliner for Wall Street
is likely arriving on Friday. That’s when the chair of the Federal
Reserve, Jerome Powell, will give a highly anticipated speech in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The setting has been home to big policy
announcements from the Fed in the past, and the hope on Wall Street
is that Powell may hint that cuts to interest rates are coming soon.
The Fed has kept its main interest rate steady this year, primarily
because of the fear of the possibility that President Donald Trump’s
tariffs could push inflation higher. But a surprisingly weak report
on job growth across the country may be superseding that.
On Tuesday the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and the Dow gained less than 0.1%.
The Nasdaq composite slumped 1.5%.
The heaviest weight on the market was Nvidia, whose chips are
powering much of the move into AI. It sank 3.5%.
Another AI darling, Palantir Technologies, dropped 9.4% for the
largest loss in the S&P 500. It’s seen bets build up sharply that
its stock price will drop, according to S3 Partners. Only Meta
Platforms has seen a bigger increase this year in what’s called
“short interest,” where traders essentially bet a stock’s price will
fall. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, sank 2.1%.
In other dealings early Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude added 65
cents to $63.00 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard,
gained 68 cents to $66.47 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar edged down to 147.54 Japanese yen from 147.66 yen.
The euro fell to $1.1640 from $1.1648.
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