Asian shares mixed after Wall St gains on Fed chair comments

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after stocks rallied on Wall Street following comments by the chair of the Federal Reserve signaling that last week’s stunningly strong jobs report won’t by itself sway its stance on interest rates hikes.

Hong Kong, Sydney and Seoul rose while Tokyo and Shanghai declined. U.S. futures edged lower while oil prices were little changed.

The benchmark S&P 500 climbed 1.3% following a shaky day where stocks pinballed between losses and gains as Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave his first public comments since raising rates last week. Other indexes also gained.

Investors are caught between hopes that the Fed will ease back on rate hikes because inflation is cooling and worries that strong employment data augur a potential rebound in price pressures, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

“For the next little while, the central banks aren’t as important as the economic data will be," Innes said. “With markets operating in a macro vacuum today, investors aren’t exactly scrambling to put on risk."

Tokyo shares were weighed down by losses in electronics and tech-related companies like Nintendo and Sharp Corp. that have reported weaker earnings than expected.

SoftBank fell 5.1% after reporting its net profit sank $5.9 billion in the last quarter. Nintendo sank 7.5% following its latest earnings update, which showed a slight decline in profit in April-December from the year before. Sharp's shares dived 12.6%.

The Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3% to 27,606.46. The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.5% to 3,232.11. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat at 21,297.43. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4% to 7,530.10.

South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.3% to 3,396.58. Shares slipped in Bangkok and rose in Taiwan and...