Tokyo, Aug 20 (AP) Global shares were mostly lower on Wednesday, tracking a decline on Wall Street led by technology shares including Nvidia and other artificial-intelligence stars.

France's CAC 40 slipped 0.1 per cent to 7,967.89, while in Germany the DAX dipped 0.4 per cent to 24,333.63. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.1 per cent to 9,177.91.

Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.2 per cent lower.

In Asia, benchmarks fell in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, weighed down by selling of shares in computer chip-related companies.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 1.5 per cent to close at 42,888.55.

Japan reported its exports fell slightly more than expected in July, down 2.6 per cent from the same month a year ago, pressured by higher tariffs on goods shipped to the US. Imports also fell, dropping 7.5 per cent from a year ago. Exports to the US fell 10.1 per cent, while imports slipped 0.8 per cent.

Computer-chip equipment makers Advantest plunged 5.7 per cent and Disco Corp. dropped 4.9 per cent. Chip maker Tokyo Electron lost 1.4 per cent and Lasertec Corp. lost 1.7 per cent.

The Taiex in Taiwan fell 3.0 per cent after chip maker TSMC dropped 4.2 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained nearly 0.2 per cent to 25,165.94, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 1.0 per cent to 3,766.21 after China's central bank opted to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged, as markets had expected.

Chinese toy company Pop Mart International Group's shares traded in Hong Kong soared 12.5 per cent after its CEO said its annual revenue could top USD 4 billion this year, more than quadrupling after more than doubling in the first half of the year. Its CEO also announced that the company was releasing a mini version of its popular Labubu dolls.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained nearly 0.3 per cent to 8,918.00.

South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.7 per cent to 3,130.09, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un condemned South Korean-US military drills that began this week. He vowed a rapid expansion of his nuclear forces to counter rivals, according to North Korean state media.

The week's headliner for Wall Street is likely arriving on Friday. That's when the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, will give a highly anticipated speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The setting has been home to big policy announcements from the Fed in the past, and the hope on Wall Street is that Powell may hint that cuts to interest rates are coming soon.

The Fed has kept its main interest rate steady this year, primarily because of the fear of the possibility that President Donald Trump's tariffs could push inflation higher. But a surprisingly weak report on job growth across the country may be superseding that.

On Tuesday the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent and the Dow gained less than 0.1 per cent. The Nasdaq composite slumped 1.5 per cent.

The heaviest weight on the market was Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the move into AI. It sank 3.5 per cent.

Another AI darling, Palantir Technologies, dropped 9.4 per cent for the largest loss in the S&P 500. It's seen bets build up sharply that its stock price will drop, according to S3 Partners. Only Meta Platforms has seen a bigger increase this year in what's called “short interest,” where traders essentially bet a stock's price will fall. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, sank 2.1 per cent.

In other dealings early Wednesday, benchmark US crude added 65 cents to USD 63.00 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 68 cents to USD 66.47 a barrel.

The US dollar edged down to 147.54 Japanese yen from 147.66 yen. The euro fell to USD 1.1640 from USD 1.1648. (AP) GRS GRS