Asian shares trade mixed after US stocks set more records

A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center left, and the foreign exchange rate between US dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea on Sept 23. (AP)

TOKYO, Sept 23, (AP): Asian shares were trading mixed Tuesday in the absence of key market-driving news in the region, after a seemingly relentless rally continued on Wall Street. Tokyo trading was closed for a national holiday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.4% to 8,845.90. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.6% to 3,488.23. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.0% to 26,080.91, as investors continued to watch ongoing talks about US tariffs.

The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.7% to 3,800.21. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% after erasing a modest loss from the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 66 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%. It was the third straight day where all three indexes set an all-time high.

“Every time the market seems to be running out of momentum, it fools most of us by pushing to higher heights,” said Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. A familiar face was again the strongest force lifting the market: Nvidia. Wall Street’s most valuable company rose 3.9% after announcing a partnership to train and run OpenAI’s next generation of artificial-intelligence models.

As part of the deal, Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI. Oracle also pushed the market higher after climbing 6.3%. It named Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as its CEOs, with current CEO Safra Catz becoming executive vice chair of the technology company’s board. Some of the market’s sharpest action was among companies agreeing to buy one another.

Pfizer said it would buy Metsera and its pipeline of medicines to potentially treat obesity in a deal initially valuing it at $4.9 billion. The payout for Metsera investors could go up sharply if its candidates win approval from federal regulators and achieve other milestones. Metsera’s stock jumped 60.7%, and Pfizer’s edged up by less than 0.1%. ODP, which runs Office Depot and Office Max, leaped 32.9% after Atlas Holdings agreed to buy it in a deal valued at roughly $1 billion. All told, the S&P 500 rose 29.39 points to 6,693.75. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 66.27 to 46,381.54, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 157.50 to 22,788.98.