Star Metro - Asian markets diverge with eyes on Nvidia earnings

Tuesday's declines in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and across the continent were followed by modest gains on Wall Street as investors tried to look past US President Donald Trump's move to oust a Federal Reserve governor.

In Europe, shares fell and the Paris stock market tumbled over fears that France's minority government could be toppled, after Prime Minister Bayrou proposed a confidence vote to break an impasse over his proposed budget cuts.

During Wednesday morning trading in Asia, the main benchmarks in Hong Kong, Sydney and Taipei were up narrowly.

Tokyo and Seoul were flat, while Shanghai and Bangkok were down.

California-based AI chip giant Nvidia will report second-quarter financial results on Wednesday evening, closely watched as a bellwether for the industry as worries about a tech bubble rise.

"The company has outgrown the tech sector and become the market's lodestar," wrote Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management in a note.

"Analysts expect revenue to soar 53 percent to $46 billion, but this is about more than revenue beats," he added.

"The crowd wants reassurance that the AI revolution isn't just smoke and mirrors."

Heavily impacting markets this week has been a highly unusual move by Trump to fire a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook.

The US leader cited allegations of false statements on her mortgage agreements, but Cook said Trump had no authority or legal cause to fire her while her lawyer announced a planned legal challenge on Tuesday.

The step adds to fears about the independence of the central bank, fuelled by Trump's repeated public demands to Fed chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.

Powell suggested on Friday that more cuts to US interest rates were on the horizon, causing markets to surge.

Investors are also awaiting a US economic growth update on Thursday and a key inflation gauge Friday for clues on how far interest rates might fall -- or not -- in the coming months.

Oil prices continued Tuesday's slow fall, paring back recent increases as traders track a possible peace deal to end the war between Ukraine and key crude producer Russia.

- Key figures at around 0215 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 42,408.10

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 25,586.68

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,862.55

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1627 from $1.1637 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3464 from $1.3475

Dollar/yen: UP at 147.70 yen from 147.45 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.35 pence from 86.36 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $63.21 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $67.18 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 45,418.07 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 9,265.80 (close)

K.Evans--SMC