BANGKOK, Aug 27, (AP): Shares were mixed Wednesday in Asia, with Chinese benchmarks shedding early gains on heavy selling of property and pharmaceutical companies. US futures were little changed as investors awaited an earnings update from computer chip giant Nvidia, due after trading ends Wednesday in New York.

The artificial intelligence bellwether's quarterly report is expected to help clarify whether markets have been soaring on an overhyped bubble or AI is a technology boom in the making. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.4% to 25,160.23 and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.8% to 3,800.35. The Shanghai benchmark has been hitting record highs recently and investors likely were selling to lock in gains.

The Chinese government said industrial profits 1.7% in January-July from a year earlier, although that was an improvement from a 2.8% drop in the first half of the year. In July, profits fell 1.5% year-on-year, it said. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.3% to 42,520.27. In South Korea, the Kospi advanced 0.3% to 3,187.16. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3% at 8,960.50.

Taiwan's Taiex climbed 0.9% after a top official said he did not expect any potential increases in US tariffs on computer chip exports to have a major impact on the export-dependent, high-tech manufacturing hub. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturng Co., the world's largest contract chip maker, gained 1.3%. In Bangkok the SET was up 0.4%. Markets in India were closed for a public holiday, as 50% tariffs on exports to the United States took effect.

The move by US President Donald Trump was expected to hit labor-intensive sectors like textile manufacturing especially hard. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 closed 0.4% higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%. The Nasdaq added 0.4%. A report said consumer confidence declined modestly in August as anxiety over a weakening job market grew for the eighth straight month.

The small decline from The Conference Board’s monthly survey was mostly in line with economists’ projections. Wall Street notched big gains last week on hopes for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. But markets were subdued after Trump escalated his fight with the Federal Reserve by saying he’s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Cook's lawyer said she'll sue Trump’s administration to try to stop him.