Sawt Falasteen - Asian stocks fluctuate as traders eye crucial US jobs data

Regional markets enjoyed a fruitful first half of the year thanks to a surge in tech stocks, but ructions in the sector over the past few weeks have raised concerns that a bubble has formed.

The race by firms to get ahead of the curve in the AI boom has seen them pump trillions of dollars into the industry, sparking an eye-watering global rally that has sent some big names stratospheric, including US chip giant Nvidia and South Korea's SK hynix.

But fears are growing that those valuations have now gone too far, investors might not see returns as early as expected and US interest rates could start to go up.

While markets have endured such issues in the past, and bounced back to scale more heights, there is talk that the latest pullback might be more lasting.

That puts Thursday's US non-farm payrolls (NFP) figures for June in focus, with a strong reading likely to ramp up hike expectations and deal a fresh blow to stocks, while a below-forecast reading could provide a fresh boost.

"While AI remains a long-term structural growth theme, investors are becoming increasingly focused on valuations and whether the enormous investment in AI infrastructure will translate into earnings growth quickly enough to justify current share prices," wrote City Index's Fiono Cincotta.

"At the same time, a more hawkish Federal Reserve has weighed on high growth stocks."

She said markets were eyeing a 60 percent chance of a 25-basis-point increase in September, with some even predicting three before January.

The NFP report follows a blowout reading for May and comes after data Tuesday showed job openings were little changed and consumer confidence had picked up thanks to easing fuel costs.

Wall Street's three main indexes ended Tuesday on a strong note, with the Dow at another record and the Nasdaq chalking up its best quarter in six years.

However, Asia was unable to continue to the bullish run.

Seoul sank more than two percent, extending a downward run that saw the Kospi take a battering last week. Still, the index is still up almost 100 percent since the turn of the year.

Sydney and Wellington also fell, while Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and Manila edged up.

The yen endured more selling pressure after hitting its weakest level against the dollar since 1986 owing to Fed hike bets and waning hopes for more tightening by the Bank of Japan.

Traders are also looking for signs of intervention by the government after it pumped a record $72 billion into markets to support the unit in May. Officials have warned they are willing to step in again but have so far resisted.

Oil prices inched higher after dropping further Tuesday on the back of optimism over the US-Iran talks.

US President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are in Qatar for more negotiations aimed at keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.

- Key figures around 0215 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 70,204.45

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 4,109.93

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday

Dollar/yen: UP at 162.70 yen from 162.59 yen on Tuesday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1404 from $1.1418

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3235 from $1.3256

Euro/pound: UP at 86.17 pence from 86.13 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $69.76 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $73.15 a barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 52,319.20 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,497.12 (close)

D.Khalil--SF-PST