Asian Shares Mixed After Tech-Led Rally on Wall Street

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer

BANGKOK (AP) — Stocks were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after a rally on Wall Street led by technology stocks.

Share benchmarks rose in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney but fell in Seoul and Shanghai. U.S. futures were lower and oil prices pushed higher.

Japan reported its trade deficit persisted in March as imports surged 31% thanks to soaring oil prices and a weakening yen. The deficit of 412 billion yen ($3.2 billion) for March was lower than the previous month's 670 billion yen but was quadruple analysts' estimates.

Data for the fiscal year that ended in March showed exports jumped almost 24% but were outpaced by imports, which climbed 33%. The fiscal year deficit of 5.4 trillion yen (nearly $42 billion) was the highest in seven years.

The dollar remained at a 20-year high against the Japanese yen, at 128.43 to the dollar. The weaker yen reflects a divergence between rising interest rates in the U.S., where the Federal Reserve is seeking to tamp down inflation, and unchanged rates in Japan, where the central bank has kept its key rate at minus 0.1% for years.

The weaker yen helps make Japanese exports more competitive overseas and fattens profits when they are converted from dollars to yen, but it also raises costs both for consumers and businesses.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6% to 27,153.96 while the Kospi in South Korea edged 0.1% lower to 2,716.54. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong advanced 0.8% to 21,200.06 and the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.2% to 3,187.23.

In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.4% to 7,593.60. India's Sensex gained 0.8% while the SET in Bangkok rose 0.6%.

On Tuesday, stocks overcame a weak start to finish broadly higher, giving the major indexes on Wall Street their best day in nearly five weeks.

The S&P 500 rose 1.6% to 4,462.21 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.5%, to 34,911.20. The tech-heavy Nasdaq shook off an early loss and added 2.2%, closing at 13,619.66...