Tech stocks in Asia mixed after big US technology shares see volatile Tuesday

FAN Editor

Technology stocks in Asia were mixed on Wednesday after their U.S. counterparts ended lower in a volatile day on Tuesday.

Shares of Apple suppliers were also mixed, a day after the Cupertino-based tech giant saw its stock drop on the back of worries over the sales of its flagship product, the iPhone.

In Taiwan, chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, also known as TSMC, saw gains of 0.46 percent on the day while major contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, declined by 0.56 percent.

Over in Japan, shares of motor maker Nidec declined by 0.36 by the market close. Component supplier Murata Manufacturing, however, recovered from its earlier losses to jump 2.13 percent higher.

The picture appeared rosier in Hong Kong, where acoustic components supplier AAC Technologies rose 1.45 percent and lens manufacturer Sunny Optical gained 1.45 percent, as of the final hour of trade.

Commenting on the stocks of the two Hong Kong-listed suppliers, Kevin Leung, executive director of investment strategy at Haitong International Securities, told CNBC’s “Street Signs” on Wednesday that their prices had come down “considerably.”

“In terms of valuations, I think it’s (a) sort of weak scenario (being) priced in right now,” he said.

The moves in Asia came after Goldman Sachs slashed its price target on Apple on Tuesday, noting that “in addition to weakness in demand for Apple’s products in China … it also looks like the balance of price and features in the iPhone XR may not have been well-received.”

Leung, on the other hand, said: “Apple tends to surprise a little bit when it comes to sales numbers.”

“For the past year we’ve been hearing different news flow about Apple cutting back their numbers, but then they’re still sort of delivering the numbers,” he added.

Apple shares fell 4.8 percent on Tuesday.

Across Asia, the tech sector appeared mixed on Wednesday.

In Japan, semiconductor-related stocks staged a strong rally as equipment maker Tokyo Electron popped 4.85 percent, and manufacturer Advantest jumped 4.46 percent.

Over in South Korea, shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 1.64 percent while chipmaker SK Hynix saw gains of 0.89 percent.

The overall picture for tech was mostly positive in Hong Kong toward the end of the trading day. Chinese juggernaut Tencent saw its stock rise 2.84 percent and China Literature gained 3.28 percent. Shares of computer maker Lenovo, however, fell 4.15 percent.

On Monday, the “FAANG” stocks — Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet — all closed in bear market territory, down more than 20 percent from their 52-week highs.

FAANG stocks were volatile on Tuesday trading, starting the day down sharply, but recovering most of their losses by the end of the day. They collectively lost more than $1 trillion in market value from recent highs on an intraday basis.

One investor told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the FAANG stocks were priced “beyond perfection.”

“The momentum that was positive that drove them to, maybe a level of irrational exuberance among their owners has now reversed course,” said Jim Lowell, chief investment officer at Adviser Investments on Wednesday.

— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.

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