Stock market today: Asian shares mostly decline ahead of Federal Reserve’s Powell speech

Asian shares are mostly falling, discouraged by a Wall Street slump that followed a blowout profit report from Nvidia and mixed reports on the U.S. economy. Benchmarks slipped in afternoon trading in Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai. High on regional investors’ minds is the speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later Friday. Oil prices rose. Wall Street declined to its worst day in three weeks. Nvidia, one of Wall Street's most influential stocks, reported stronger-than-expected profits, raising hopes about the potential of artificial intelligence technology.