Asia-Pacific stocks mixed as tech shares drop after Biden renominates Powell as Fed chair

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Tuesday as investors watched for market reaction to U.S. President Joe Biden picking Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined more than 1% as of its final hour of trading. Mainland Chinese stocks closed mixed, with the Shanghai composite up 0.2% to 3,589.09 while the Shenzhen component slipped 0.371% to 14,905.13

South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.53% to close at 2,997.33, with shares of biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion plunging 6%.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia closed 0.78% higher at 7,410.60

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.53%

Markets in Japan were closed on Tuesday for a holiday

TICKER COMPANY NAME PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE
.N225 Nikkei 225 Index *NIKKEI 29774.11 28.24 0.09
.HSI Hang Seng Index *HSI 24651.58 -299.76 -1.2
.AXJO S&P/ASX 200 *ASX 200 7410.6 57.5 0.78
.SSEC Shanghai *SHANGHAI 3589.09 7.01 0.2
.KS11 KOSPI Index *KOSPI 2997.33 -15.92 -0.53
.FTFCNBCA CNBC 100 ASIA IDX *CNBC 100 10205.19 -80.97 -0.79
Tech stocks fall
Technology stocks in Asia fell on Tuesday, tracking losses seen by their peers overnight stateside

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent fell 2.22% while Alibaba slipped 2.55% and Meituan plunged 2.48%. The Hang Seng Tech index declined by about 1.3%

South Korea’s LG Electronics shed 4.48% and Kakao dropped 3.11%

Overnight stateside, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.26% to 15,854.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 17.27 points higher to 35,619.25 while the S&P 500 slipped 0.32% to 4,682.94

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Those moves came as investors on Wall Street reacted to Biden picking Powell for another term as Fed chair. Biden had been under pressure to name a more progressive Democrat, rather than keep Republican Powell in the role.

Powell has guided the U.S. central bank and the country’s economy through the pandemic recession, unleashing unprecedented monetary stimulus to keep financial markets afloat. His renomination now heads to the Senate for confirmation