[MARKET ANALYSIS] Asia-Pac stocks are mostly higher amid tech-related momentum

APAC Stocks: Mostly positive

• Asia-Pac stocks are predominantly higher following the mostly positive lead from Wall St, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq printed fresh record highs amid outperformance in tech, while markets remain hopeful of a US-Iran agreement despite the recent limited US 'self-defence' strikes.

ASX 200: +0.1%

• Eked mild gains with strength seen in tech and miners, but with gains capped by losses in the top-weighted financial sector, while participants also digested softer-than-expected headline inflation.

Nikkei 225: +1.3%

• Rose to a fresh record high above the 66,000 level as tech stocks continued to underpin the index, and with Services PPI data printing softer-than-expected.

KOSPI +4.7%

• Outperforms and posted a new all-time high as SK Hynix rallied to surpass the USD 1tln market cap milestone, while Samsung Electronics was also boosted after union workers voted to accept the pay agreement.

Hang Seng & Shanghai Comp: Hang Seng -0.8% / Shanghai Comp -0.9%

• Chinese markets lagged following weak earnings results from Xiaomi, which reported a 43% drop in adjusted net in Q1 and with China expanding overseas travel curbs to its top AI talent in private firms, while there were also comments from USTR Greer that China expects a certain level of US tariffs we agreed to and that US tariffs on Chinese goods will likely always be higher than for other countries.

US Equity Futures: Rangebound

• US index futures are kept afloat in rangebound trade after the recent choppy performances.

European Equity Futures +0.3%

• Indicate a mildly higher cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.3% after the cash market closed with losses of 1.2% on Tuesday.