Asian Shares Mixed Amid China-Taiwan Tensions

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended Thursday's session mixed as rate worries lingered and China announced immediate military drills around Taiwan, marking a concerning escalation in the tensions between Taiwan and China, which has long claimed sovereignty over the island.

Hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting boosted the dollar, which hovered near a one-week high following its best day this month against major peers.

Gold pulled back further from record highs after the Fed meeting minutes revealed discussions of a further tightening of interest rates if inflation remained sticky.

Oil prices declined for a fourth straight session on bearish inventory data and persistent concerns over high for longer U.S. interest rates.

China's Shanghai Composite index fell 1.33 percent to 3,116.39 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 1.7 percent to 18,868.71.

Japanese markets rallied as strong financial results from U.S. tech giant Nvidia boosted technology stocks.

The Nikkei average climbed 1.26 percent to 39,103.22, marking over one-month closing high. The broader Topix index settled 0.64 percent higher at 2,754.75.

Advantest surged 5.4 percent, SoftBank Corp jumped 4.3 percent and Tokyo Electron added 1.8 percent.

Seoul stocks recovered from an early slide to end on a flat note. The Kospi average finished marginally lower at 2,721.81 as the Bank of Korea held its key policy rate steady amid sticky inflation and raised its 2024 GDP growth forecast.

Australian markets closed lower as rate worries led investors to book profits in commodity-related stocks. Information technology stocks outperformed, with Xero surging 8.7 percent after the accounting software giant reported better than expected FY24 profits.

The benchmark S&P ASX 200 dropped 0.46 percent to 7,811.80 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 0.43 percent at 8,083.10.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P NZX-50 index rose 0.66 percent to 11,809.48 after retail sales data for the first quarter beat estimates.

U.S. stocks struggled for direction before closing lower overnight as the minutes of the April 30-May 1 Fed meeting showed officials were disappointed in recent inflation data and discussed potential further rate hikes, if inflation surged.

In light of the economy's strength, officials believed "disinflation would likely take longer than previously thought."

Mixed quarterly results from retailer Target also raised questions about the resiliency of the U.S. consumer.

The Dow gave up half a percent, the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.2 percent.