Asia-Pacific stocks edge higher as investors watch tech stocks following Wall Street sell-off

• Shares of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will be watched by investors after the company on Wednesday reported a 36.7% rise in its fourth-quarter net profit.
• Investors will also monitor other technology stocks in the region after the sector sold off overnight stateside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite falling 2.01% to 12,961.89.

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific edged higher in Thursday morning trade, though tech shares in the region took a hit following a sell-off in the sector overnight on Wall Street.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.66% while the Topix index gained 1.09%. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.24%.

Shares in Australia nudged higher as the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.31%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded little changed.

Tech stock watch

Shares of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will be watched by investors today after the company on Wednesday reported a 36.7% rise in its fourth-quarter net profit. Adjusted net profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 came in at about 3.2 billion yuan (about $490 million). That was above analysts' expectations of 2.9 billion yuan, according to Reuters.

Investors also monitored other technology stocks in the region. In Japan, shares of conglomerate Softbank Group dropped more than 2%. South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix also dipped 0.37%.

The moves came after technology stocks sold off overnight stateside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite falling 2.01% to 12,961.89.

The S&P 500 also declined 0.55% to close at 3,889.14 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 3.09 points lower to finish its trading day at 32,420.06.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.595 after rising from levels below 92 earlier in the week.

The Japanese yen traded at 108.82 per dollar, weaker than levels below 108.6 against the greenback seen earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7591, as compared to levels above $0.765 seen earlier in the week.

Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.48% to $64.10 per barrel. U.S. crude futures declined 0.7% to $60.75 per barrel.

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