Gold extends gains, breaking past $5,000; Asia stocks trade mostly higher, breaking ranks with Wall Street

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Wednesday, breaking ranks with Wall Street after a sell-off in U.S. technology stocks weighed on sentiment, while gold extended gains for a second day.

Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.78% to close at 54,293.36, dragged by tech stocks. The Topix added 0.27% to 3,655.58. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 reversed course and rose 0.8% to 8,927.8.

South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.57% to 5,371.1, while the small-cap Kosdaq added 0.45% to 1,149.43.

Nintendo shares dropped more than 10%, despite maintaining its full-year sales forecast for the Switch 2 console, as investors assessed several potential headwinds for the gaming giant, including the risk of an unprecedented surge in memory prices — a key component of its consoles.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index was flat at 26,847.32, while the mainland CSI 300 rose 0.83% to 4,698.68.

Wall Street's fears of artificial intelligence-driven disruption affecting software companies also spread to Asia, with tech stocks in the region tracking overnight declines in U.S. peers.

Japanese software firms in Asia led the region's declines. TIS, a major Japanese information technology services provider and systems integrator, plunged by more than 15%. Trend Micro and NS Solutions each lost over 7%.