Investing.com - Australian shares opened lower on Wednesday after the tech industry in New York experienced a severe sell-off as investors cashed in on profits. Despite the overall decline, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) managed to rally and close with a 0.9% increase.
Major indices on Wall Street, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ Composite, ended the day in the red. Gold managed to increase by as much as 1.3% to $US2141.79 an ounce, before curtailing its gains. Concurrently, oil prices slipped under $US82 per barrel.
Bitcoin, the most prominent digital asset, saw an increase of up to 2.5% to $US69,191.95 before retreating below $US62,000.
Tech giants such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) were among the leading decliners. Concerns about sales in China, fueled by stiff local competition and weak consumer confidence, impacted both Tesla and Apple.
Shares of Accent Group Ltd (ASX:AX1), EQT Holdings Ltd (ASX:EQT), Monadelphous Group Ltd (ASX:MND), Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST), Qbe Insurance Group Ltd (ASX:QBE), Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX:RWC), Servcorp Ltd (ASX:SRV), Smartgroup Corporation Ltd (ASX:SIQ), Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX:SUL), and Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX:TWE) are all set to trade ex-dividend.
The local agenda for the day includes the fourth-quarter GDP announcement at 11.30 am, while investors are also looking toward Jerome Powell’s semi-annual testimony to Congress.