Global Pulse

标签： Asia

亚洲

  • Heavy rain and flooding in north-central Japan strands people and vehicles

    Heavy rain and flooding in north-central Japan strands people and vehicles

    On Thursday, extreme downpours swept through Japan’s north-central prefectures of Ishikawa and Toyama, unleashing catastrophic flooding and destructive landslides that shut down key transport routes and left dozens of residents trapped in submerged homes and stranded vehicles across the region.

    In response to the rapidly deteriorating weather conditions, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued its highest-level Level 5 heavy rain warning for multiple affected districts across the two prefectures, immediately calling on all local residents to enact urgent safety protocols to avoid harm from imminent flood and landslide risks.

    By the end of Thursday, rainfall intensity had decreased significantly across the impacted zones, allowing the JMA to downgrade the alert to a lower, medium-level warning. Even as the immediate downpour eased, agency officials stressed that residual risks remained high, warning residents that additional precipitation and new landslide activity could still occur through Friday morning.

    Forecasting data from the JMA projects total accumulated rainfall could reach as high as 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) across the Kaga and Noto regions between the onset of the storm and Friday morning. In line with the national weather agency’s alert, prefectural-level authorities issued evacuation orders and guidance for more than 380,000 residents, urging them to relocate to designated higher-ground emergency shelters immediately.

    Footage captured by Japan’s national public broadcaster NHK showed emergency response teams conducting life-saving rescues in Himi City, Toyama Prefecture. Rescuers waded through chest-deep floodwaters to extract stranded residents, who were ferried to safety aboard inflatable rubber rescue rafts. Along inundated city roads, dozens of vehicles that stalled after their engines ingested floodwater were left abandoned by their owners.

    In neighboring Ishikawa Prefecture, located just west of Toyama, floodwaters cut off road access to 270 residential properties across three local municipalities, completely isolating the communities. As of the latest official update, however, prefectural disaster management officials have confirmed no reports of injuries or fatalities among the isolated residents. Beyond flooding, the heavy rain also triggered multiple small landslides across Ishikawa that forced the permanent or temporary closure of dozens of regional roads.

    Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, Japan’s top government spokesperson, confirmed in a public briefing that multiple rivers across both prefectures had spilled past their banks, inundating hundreds of residential properties. Echoing local officials, Kihara also confirmed that no injuries or deaths had been reported in connection with the flooding as of Thursday evening.

    Regional power provider Hokuriku Electric Power Co. reported that the severe weather knocked out electricity service to more than 1,000 homes across both Ishikawa and Toyama, with repair crews standing by to restore service once floodwaters recede and hazard risks subside.

    This latest extreme rain event comes less than a month after another devastating flood disaster in Japan: earlier this July, heavy downpours and widespread flooding in Chiba Prefecture, located just east of Tokyo, claimed the lives of 13 people.

  • What to know about Mount Kailash, a sacred site for pilgrims missing after floods in Nepal and Tibet

    What to know about Mount Kailash, a sacred site for pilgrims missing after floods in Nepal and Tibet

    A catastrophic glacial collapse-triggered flash flood sweeping across the border region between Nepal and China’s Tibet Autonomous Region has left a devastating trail of death and disappearance, with more than 100 of the 1,300+ missing people being pilgrims bound for one of the Himalayas’ most revered sacred sites, Mount Kailash. As of the latest official updates, the disaster has claimed at least 168 lives, forced hundreds of local residents from their homes, and sparked global concern over the safety of travelers in the increasingly climate-vulnerable Himalayan region.

    Standing at more than 6,400 meters above sea level in southwestern Tibet, adjacent to the glacial Lake Manasarovar and near the tri-border junction of China, Nepal and India, Mount Kailash has occupied a central sacred role across multiple major religious and spiritual traditions for more than a thousand years. Its importance stretches across Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and the indigenous Tibetan Bon religion, each weaving the mountain into their unique spiritual cosmologies and sacred histories.

    For Hindu believers, the jagged snow-capped peak is widely recognized as the earthly home of Shiva, the god of destruction and transformation, and his consort Parvati, the goddess of marriage, fertility and maternal care. Both the mountain and nearby Lake Manasarovar have been referenced in ancient Sanskrit religious texts and literary works dating back centuries. In Buddhist and Hindu cosmology, Mount Kailash is also identified with the mythical Mount Meru, the mythic axis mundi that forms the center of the entire world. Followers of the Tibetan Bon tradition, meanwhile, venerate the peak as a stronghold of spiritual power, linking it directly to Tonpa Shenrab, the faith’s founding figure. Even Sikhism has connections to the site: one enduring local legend tells of Guru Nanak, Sikhism’s founder, teaching villagers that the true pilgrimage to Kailash is an inward spiritual journey, not just a physical trek to the mountain.

    Every year between June and early September, thousands of pilgrims from across the globe travel to the region to complete the sacred ritual of the Kailash circuit. Unlike many famous mountain peaks that draw adventure climbers, Mount Kailash is never summited by traditional pilgrims, who instead complete a 53-kilometer walking circuit around its base. This multi-day journey is believed to purify the pilgrim of accumulated sins. Different traditions follow different directions for the walk: Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims circle clockwise, while Bon followers travel counterclockwise. Along the route, Tibetan pilgrims stop at ancient monasteries and other sacred landmarks, performing rituals that range from pressing prayer beads to sacred rock formations to tests of spiritual merit. Many Hindu pilgrims also complete a ritual purification bath in the frigid waters of nearby Lake Manasarovar. Today, organized pilgrimages are run officially by the Indian government through routes in Uttarakhand and Sikkim, while private tour operators also arrange trips through Nepalese border crossings.

    The recent flood disaster has painted a tragic backdrop to this centuries-old tradition. Official figures confirm that Nepal has recorded 165 deaths and 826 missing people, while Tibet has reported 3 deaths and 558 people unaccounted for, with hundreds of the missing being foreign nationals. Nepal’s tourism board reports that 179 of the missing are Indian citizens, most of whom were traveling to or returning from Mount Kailash. Other missing international travelers include 65 from the United States, 35 from Australia, 33 from the United Kingdom and 25 from Canada. Among the groups affected were 77 people returning from the mountain with pilgrimage groups organized by the Isha Foundation, led by well-known Indian spiritual leader Jaggi Vasudev (also called Sadhguru), who were caught in the flood while staying at an immigration center in Gyirong, Tibet.

    The disaster was triggered when a destabilized glacier collapsed, sending a massive surge of water, ice and debris roaring downstream through river valleys on both sides of the China-Nepal border. Climate scientists warn that this type of catastrophic glacial outburst flood is becoming increasingly common in the Himalayas as rising global temperatures melt and destabilize the region’s vast glacial ice reserves, putting growing numbers of local communities and travelers at risk.
    This report is the product of Associated Press religion coverage, produced through AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP retains full editorial responsibility for all content.

  • People from more than 30 countries are missing after the flash floods in Nepal and China

    People from more than 30 countries are missing after the flash floods in Nepal and China

    On Wednesday, a massive glacial collapse in the Tibet region unleashed catastrophic flash flooding across the mountainous border area shared by China and Nepal, triggering one of the deadliest Himalayan disasters in recent memory. As of Thursday, official tallies from both national governments confirm more than 160 people have been killed, with more than 1,300 others unaccounted for — a large share of whom are foreign visitors traveling for trekking expeditions or religious pilgrimage to a revered Hindu sacred site.

    Disaster response teams have cautioned that the number of missing people remains inconsistent across different agencies, due to gaps in data collection timelines, differing verification protocols, and coordination lags between teams compiling casualty records and crews conducting on-the-ground search and rescue operations in the hard-to-reach affected zone.

    In Nepal, local police have recorded at least 165 fatalities connected to the disaster, with 826 people registered as missing. According to local media citing the country’s National Emergency Operation Center, the missing on Nepal’s side include 113 Nepali tourists, 85 army and police security personnel, 161 residents from Rasuwa district, and one resident from Nuwakot district. By late Thursday, Nepal’s National Tourism Board confirmed that 517 of the total missing people in the country are foreign nationals.

    Across the border in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, state media reports confirm three fatalities in Gyirong County, with 558 people listed as missing. China’s Central Television (CCTV) adds that 260 of the 558 missing in Gyirong County are foreign nationals. Separately, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that an additional nearly 100 Chinese citizens are currently unaccounted for on the Nepal side of the border.

    The spread of missing foreign nationals spans more than 30 countries across every inhabited continent, highlighting the popularity of the region as a global tourism and religious destination. India accounts for the largest share of missing foreign nationals in Nepal, with 179 people unaccounted for — most of whom were part of pilgrimage groups traveling to the sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet, a site of deep spiritual significance to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Bon followers alike. Following India, the United States has 65 missing citizens, Ukraine has 53 (including 46 tourists who lost contact with Nepalese authorities), Malaysia has 51, Australia 35, the United Kingdom 33, Canada 25, and South Korea counts nine citizens missing, all of whom were working on a local hydropower plant construction project.

    Smaller groups of missing foreign nationals include eight people each from Singapore, Germany, and Russia; six from South Africa and Latvia; five from Japan and New Zealand; four from France; three from Belgium and Spain; and two each from Italy, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Ireland, and the Netherlands. One missing citizen each has been confirmed from Belarus, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, the Philippines, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Serbia, and Sweden, the Nepal Tourism Board confirmed.

  • Collapsed glacier likely caused devastating Nepal-Tibet floods, scientists say

    Collapsed glacier likely caused devastating Nepal-Tibet floods, scientists say

    A devastating flash flood that swept across the Nepal-Tibet border, claiming at least 177 lives, has been definitively linked to a sudden glacial collapse by leading scientific bodies and glacier experts, bringing renewed attention to the accelerating risks of climate change in the Himalayan region.

    Initial confusion around the disaster’s origin pointed to an earthquake-triggered landslide as the likely cause, after seismic activity measuring magnitude 5.2 was detected in the area. But the U.S. Geological Survey later corrected that the seismic reading itself was not a precursor to the flood—it was a byproduct of the collapse. When a large section of glacier broke free and slammed into the valley floor below, the impact was forceful enough to register on global seismic monitors.

    Dr. Simon Cook, a glaciology researcher at the University of Dundee, confirmed that the collapse occurred on the lower portion of a glacier located near Nepal’s Langtang Lirung peak, roughly 9 miles west of the flood’s main impact zone. His analysis found the broken glacier segment moved northwest before flowing downstream into the affected river system.

    Further research from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), an intergovernmental scientific body focused on Himalayan ecosystems, supports the glacial collapse finding. The centre’s preliminary assessment suggests the event unfolded as an ice-rock avalanche that originated in high-altitude terrain. The massive surge of ice and broken rock crashed into the Lende Khola, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi river, triggering an explosive downstream flood loaded with water, sediment, and massive boulders.

    Aerial footage and on-site imagery captured the scale of the surge: river levels rose between 7 and 9 meters in just 30 minutes, a jump so rapid and powerful that multiple official water monitoring stations were swept away or destroyed entirely. The valley’s steep mountain slopes funneled the debris-choked water at deadly speed, leaving widespread destruction in its path.

    While the specific trigger for this particular glacial collapse remains under investigation, scientists have long warned that rising global temperatures are driving accelerated ice melt and permafrost degradation across the Hindu Kush Himalaya, dramatically increasing the risk of such catastrophic events. A 2026 analysis from ICIMOD found that Himalayan glaciers are currently losing ice twice as fast as they were at the turn of the 21st century, a trend that directly amplifies flood and collapse hazards across the region.

    This disaster is far from an isolated incident. Dr. Cook noted that glacier collapse-driven floods and landslides have become increasingly common in high mountain regions around the world in recent years, with major deadly events recorded in India, Switzerland, and Italy. In 2021, a similar Himalayan glacial collapse in India’s Chamoli valley killed more than 200 people, with an impact scientists later estimated was equivalent to 15 atomic bombs. Even the Nepal-Tibet border region saw a major glacial flood last year, triggered by the outburst of a glacial lake in southern Tibet.

    Mohd Farooq Azam, a cryosphere specialist at ICIMOD, emphasized that the growing frequency of these events is outpacing current mitigation and monitoring capacity. “The increasing frequency of hazards in the cryosphere—the frozen parts of the Earth—is becoming more visible than ever before. The pace of change is so rapid that current efforts are struggling to keep up,” he said.

    While researchers note that it is impossible to directly attribute any single extreme event to climate change, the long-term trend points clearly to human-caused warming as a core driver of growing risk. “When you look at the pattern of these events, you do think climate change could have an impact,” Dr. Cook explained. “The logic is that with a warming planet, you will see shrinking glaciers, lots of snow melt. The permafrost that is partially holding some mountainsides together is warming and thawing and degrading. So you are going to get more landslides, debris flows, glacial meltwater, lake outbursts, glacier collapses, because climate warming ultimately destabilises these high mountain environments.”

  • Dinusha’s century helps Sri Lanka snatch a draw in second test but India wins series 1-0

    Dinusha’s century helps Sri Lanka snatch a draw in second test but India wins series 1-0

    COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – In a dramatic final-day showdown at the second Test between India and Sri Lanka, a heroic unbeaten century from Sonal Dinusha and a gritty rearguard stand with Sri Lanka’s lower-order tailenders secured an unlikely draw for the hosts on Thursday. Despite the match ending in a stalemate, India walked away with a 1-0 victory in the two-match Test series. Dinusha’s performance made history: his 133 not out in the second innings, following a 103-run knock in the first, marked only the third time any player has hit twin centuries in a Test after being forced to follow on, joining elite company of India’s Vijay Hazare and Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower. The match had been shaping up heavily in India’s favor from the opening day. After winning the toss, India elected to bat first and posted an imposing total of 503 for nine wickets before declaring their innings. Standout batting performances from Devdutt Padikkal, who notched 117 runs for his second century of the series, and wicket-keeper Druv Jurel, who contributed a solid 115, anchored India’s big first-innings total. Indian bowlers capitalized on the momentum, bundling Sri Lanka out for just 290 runs in their first turn at the crease, giving India a commanding 213-run lead that allowed them to enforce the follow-on. By the close of play on Day 4, Sri Lanka had batted back to a narrow 16-run lead with six wickets down, reaching 229-6 before early rain cut the day’s play short. Half-centuries from Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Kamindu Mendis gave Sri Lanka a foothold heading into the final day, but the hosts still faced an uphill battle to save the match, resuming Thursday with just four wickets in hand and needing to bat through the remaining overs to force a draw. Dinusha stepped up to deliver one of the great rearguard Test innings, spending a full seven hours at the crease facing 264 deliveries, striking two sixes and eight boundaries on his way to an unbeaten 133. He got crucial support from his tailend partners: No. 8 batter Keshara Nuwantha held firm for 46 runs off 150 balls, while No. 10 Lahiru Kumara survived 90 deliveries to score 12 runs, grinding down the Indian bowling attack and eating through valuable overs. By the time stumps were called, Sri Lanka had declared their second innings at 429 for nine wickets, setting a nominal lead of 216 runs with just 17 overs left in the day, securing the draw. For India, left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Manav Suthar shared the bulk of the bowling wickets, picking up three wickets apiece for totals of 94 and 121 runs respectively. At the end of the match, Dinusha was honored with the player of the match award for his historic batting performance. Padikkal, who scored 167 runs in the first Test at Galle and 117 in this second match in Colombo, was named player of the series for his consistent contributions with the bat throughout the tour.

  • Anguish stalks Nepal flood survivors whose loved ones were swept away

    Anguish stalks Nepal flood survivors whose loved ones were swept away

    A catastrophic flash flood disaster that swept through mountain villages along the Nepal-China border last Wednesday has left a staggering trail of death and destruction, with more than 160 people confirmed dead and nearly 800 still unaccounted for. The force of the churning mud and debris was so intense that seismologists initially mistook the geological disturbance for a major earthquake, a testament to the unprecedented power of the natural disaster that erased entire settled communities from the map.

    Survivors of the catastrophe have shared harrowing, heart-wrenching accounts of watching their loved ones and entire livelihoods get swept away in minutes, with no time to escape or intervene. Kalpana Malla, a resident of Nepal’s Nuwakot district, described the moment when her parents, sister, and her sister’s young children were pulled into the roiling mudslides right in front of her eyes. “They could not escape the flood; there was no chance at all,” Malla told the BBC. “This flood took everything, but my son and I climbed the rooftop of a house and survived but couldn’t explain how.” Her 16-year-old son Sugam, who pulled his mother to safety when the floodwaters rose, recalled that he had lent his mobile phone to his sister to stay connected, and the device has since gone silent — leaving him certain she was also swept away.

    Other survivors have lost not only family but everything they owned to the disaster. Local resident Goma Pandit explained that all of her cattle, including her valued buffaloes, were killed in the flood, and every bit of her stored crops and farmland was also washed away. “Nothing is left,” she said.

    In the capital city of Kathmandu, dozens of anxious family members have gathered at TU Teaching Hospital, where injured survivors are being transported via helicopter from remote affected areas, waiting for any word of their missing loved ones. Ram Khumari Shrestha held up a photo of her husband, a driver who had traveled to the flood-hit Rasuwa district for work, saying he was in regular contact with her until 8 p.m. on the night of the flood, but his phone has been switched off ever since. Mani Shrestha Bishwa, who has been camping at the hospital since Wednesday night, is still waiting for news of four missing family members and friends, with his last contact with the group coming more than 24 hours before the flood hit.

    Trekking guide Sonam Dorjee escaped the disaster by barely an hour, having left his home village of Rasiwa Syafru at 8 a.m. local time, shortly before the floodwaters slammed into the community. As he drove toward Kathmandu, he heard the roar of the flood hitting the valley, which he described as sounding identical to a major earthquake. “My house has collapsed… I have seen a photo,” he said. Dorjee’s sister, her husband, and multiple other relatives are currently missing, and he echoed calls for emergency support for hundreds of left homeless by the disaster. “Many survivors are now left without homes and they need emergency rescue and evacuation, as well as food, temporary accommodation and medical support,” he said, adding that he still holds out a sliver of hope that his sister will be found alive: “There is a 10% chance, we hope.”

    By Thursday, rescue teams had begun the dangerous work of traversing thick, clinging mud and scattered debris to reach cut-off remote communities, while Nepalese government authorities worked to accelerate the delivery of emergency aid and relief supplies to the disaster zone.

  • Chinese foreign minister calls for US and China to ‘overcome obstacles’ ahead of presidential summit

    Chinese foreign minister calls for US and China to ‘overcome obstacles’ ahead of presidential summit

    BANGKOK – As anticipation builds for a highly anticipated high-level summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump slated for next month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has emphasized that the two global powers must work proactively to dismantle long-standing barriers standing in the way of productive dialogue.

    China’s state-owned national broadcaster CCTV released details of Wang’s closed-door meeting with David Perdue, the U.S. Ambassador to China, which took place on Wednesday, with public comments shared Thursday. During the discussions, Wang called for both Beijing and Washington to reframe their engagement around shared priorities, steer through existing disagreements with careful diplomacy, push back against outside interference, and clear away barriers that threaten to undermine upcoming high-level exchanges between the two governments.

    In his official remarks carried by CCTV, Wang openly acknowledged that bilateral relations between China and the United States continue to confront a wide range of significant risks and unresolved challenges that could derail progress ahead of the summit.

    The two heads of state first met earlier this year in May in Beijing, where both leaders issued public pledges to maintain stability in bilateral ties and uphold a fragile, hard-won trade truce that had been negotiated to ease escalating economic tensions. Following that meeting, President Trump extended a formal invitation to President Xi to hold a second round of talks in the United States, originally penciled in for September 24. To date, however, Chinese officials have not formally confirmed the exact date of President Xi’s visit to the U.S.

    In the weeks following the Beijing meeting, the diplomatic thaw failed to hold, as both sides continued to roll out targeted economic measures against one another. These reciprocal actions include a U.S. ban on imports of Chinese-made robotics technology, as well as retaliatory restrictions implemented by Beijing that bar certain American entities from conducting trade and other commercial activities within Chinese borders.

  • People pulled from mud in Nepal after deadly flash floods

    People pulled from mud in Nepal after deadly flash floods

    Catastrophic flash floods have swept through regions along the Nepal-Tibet border, leaving a grim trail of destruction that has claimed the lives of at least 160 people. As emergency response teams race against time to reach trapped survivors stuck in thick mud and debris, significant logistical hurdles are slowing rescue operations. Many remote communities in the disaster-hit zone remain cut off from aid, damaged infrastructure and washed-out access routes have complicated efforts to deploy personnel and equipment to the hardest-hit areas. Local disaster management authorities have reported that dozens of people remain unaccounted for, buried under mudslides triggered by the sudden flash flooding. Emergency responders are working to clear blocked pathways and locate those still trapped, with international disaster response organizations monitoring the situation closely for potential deployment of additional support. The flooding, which struck suddenly, caught many local residents off guard, turning everyday communities into disaster zones overnight. Rescuers have managed to pull dozens of survivors out of deep mud, but the scale of the disaster continues to outpace the current response capacity in the remote border region.

  • Pakistani investigators visiting hospital nursery where fire killed 14 newborns

    Pakistani investigators visiting hospital nursery where fire killed 14 newborns

    A devastating fast-spreading fire that claimed the lives of 14 newborns in a government hospital nursery in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has triggered public outrage, official probes and sweeping calls for safety overhauls across the country’s health facilities. As grieving families demand accountability for the tragedy, an investigative committee appointed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched on-site inquiries Thursday at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the major public medical facility where the blaze broke out early Wednesday.

    The fire was limited exclusively to the third-floor neonatal nursery, leaving the rest of the hospital undamaged. But the blaze spread with alarming speed that left frontline staff unable to save most infants: only one of the 15 babies being cared for in the unit at the time was rescued by two attending doctors, two nurses and other on-duty personnel, hospital authorities confirmed.

    By Thursday, the atmosphere across PIMS was heavy with grief, as medical staff, patients and family members mourned the lost newborns. Access to the fire-ravaged third-floor nursery area was tightly restricted to preserve the scene for investigators. The five-member investigative panel, headed by retired federal secretary Shahid Khan, is tasked with collecting statements from hospital staff, eyewitnesses and bereaved families, with a tight deadline to deliver urgent policy recommendations to Sharif within 48 hours, followed by a full detailed investigative report within five working days.

    Conflicting preliminary accounts of the fire’s origin have deepened calls for an independent inquiry. Initially, hospital and district officials claimed an exploding air conditioning unit triggered the blaze. But a revised preliminary statement from the hospital later revised the cause to an explosion involving a medical nebulizer, noting that high oxygen concentrations in the neonatal unit allowed the fire to spread across the space in just minutes. The city administration emphasized that the appointed committee will carry out an independent assessment to determine the definitive cause, with no conclusions yet reached.

    Overnight following the tragedy, authorities released all 14 victims’ bodies to their families for burial. In the wake of the deaths, top officials have ordered wide-ranging audits of fire safety protocols and firefighting infrastructure at all healthcare facilities across Pakistan. In Punjab, the country’s most populous province, a government official statement confirmed that local authorities have directed the provincial Health Department to complete immediate reviews of fire safety systems and emergency response capabilities at all hospitals under its jurisdiction.

    Prime Minister Sharif has already taken disciplinary action following the tragedy, removing Aslam Ghauri from his post as Health Secretary, the top civil servant leading the country’s Health Ministry. Grieving parents have publicly pressed for full transparency, demanding clear answers about both the origin of the fire and whether the nursery had sufficient functioning firefighting equipment to prevent the mass casualties.

    The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF released a statement expressing profound sorrow over the deaths, adding its voice to calls for an urgent review and immediate strengthening of fire prevention and safety standards at all health facilities across Pakistan.

    The nursery fire is the latest in a string of deadly tragedies involving children in Pakistan this year. Just two months prior, in June, 14 schoolchildren lost their lives when the roof of an under-construction private tutoring center collapsed in the eastern city of Lahore, highlighting systemic gaps in public safety regulation across multiple sectors.

  • Asian stocks are mixed after Wall Street losses following economic updates

    Asian stocks are mixed after Wall Street losses following economic updates

    Global financial markets delivered a mixed performance on Thursday, with Asian equities splitting gains and losses following marginal downward movement on Wall Street a day earlier, as a blockbuster earnings report from chip giant Nvidia lifted U.S. futures and oil prices retreated. The session unfolded against a backdrop of shifting macroeconomic data and ongoing investor anxiety around the sustainability of the global artificial intelligence investment boom.

    After U.S. markets closed Wednesday, Nvidia — one of the world’s most valuable public companies and a key barometer for the global AI industry — released quarterly results that far outstripped Wall Street analysts’ projections. The firm reported revenue for the May-to-July quarter more than doubled from the same period a year earlier, fueled by explosive, unrelenting demand for its high-end AI chips that power everything from large language models to generative AI tools for major tech corporations. Following the better-than-expected report, U.S. futures traded into positive territory early Thursday.

    Across major Asian benchmarks, performance was fragmented. Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged down 0.2% to close at 66,162.72, though SoftBank Group, the multinational investment holding that holds a stake in AI leader OpenAI, notched a 0.1% gain. South Korea’s Kospi outperformed most regional indexes, climbing 1.5% to 6,909.81, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics rising 2% as investors bet on ongoing AI chip demand. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have emerged as the biggest regional winners from the global AI investment frenzy, and Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex index added 0.5% on Thursday.

    In Greater China markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 0.4% to 25,548.83, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6% to 3,935.99. New economic data released by China showed growth in industrial profits slowed to 11.2% in July, down from 15.1% in June, signaling ongoing softness in the country’s industrial recovery. Further afield, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.9% to 9,041.70, and India’s Sensex posted a marginal 0.1% decline.

    On Wednesday, U.S. markets closed with modest losses, with the benchmark S&P 500 falling less than 0.1% to remain just below its recent record high levels. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.1%. Beyond Nvidia’s results, the session brought other notable market-moving developments: Meta Platforms added 1.1% after reaching an $18 billion settlement with U.S. states over claims that its platforms Facebook and Instagram fueled teen social media addiction. The deal also requires Meta to implement new child-safety measures, ending a landmark national trial against the company.

    New macroeconomic data released Wednesday also gave investors new insight into U.S. economic momentum and inflation pressures. The revised estimate for U.S. gross domestic product growth in the April-June quarter came in at 1.5%, matching earlier projections. The personal consumption expenditures price index — the inflation metric the Federal Reserve has long prioritized for policy decisions — held steady at 3.7% in July, unchanged from June. That reading was slightly higher than the 3.6% consensus forecast from economists surveyed by FactSet, and remains far above the Fed’s longstanding 2% annual inflation target.

    Nvidia’s strong results have come at a time of widespread debate among investors over the future of the AI boom. While chip and AI-related stocks have rallied for more than two years, many market participants warn that massive current investments in AI infrastructure could lead to an asset bubble, as companies may fail to generate enough near- and medium-term profits to justify the sky-high valuations and rising capital outlays.

    In energy markets, oil prices edged lower early Thursday. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil pricing, fell 0.5% to $86.49 per barrel. For context, the commodity traded around $72 per barrel in late February, before the outbreak of open conflict in Iran pushed energy prices higher. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude also dropped 0.5% to $81.84 per barrel. In currency markets, the U.S. dollar appreciated slightly against the Japanese yen, rising to 159.38 yen from 159.31 yen, while the euro edged up to $1.1655 from $1.1651.