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% to 7,967.89, while in Germany the DAX dipped 0.4% to 24,333.63. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.1% to 9,177.91. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.2% 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% to close at 42,888.55. Japan reported its exports fell slightly more than expected in July, down 2.6% from the same month a year ago, pressured by higher tariffs on goods shipped to the US.

Imports also fell, dropping 7.5% from a year ago. Exports to the US fell 10.1%, while imports slipped 0.8%. Computer-chip equipment makers Advantest plunged 5.7% and Disco Corp. dropped 4.9%. Chip maker Tokyo Electron lost 1.4%. and Lasertec Corp. lost 1.7%. The Taiex in Taiwan fell 3.0% after chip maker TSMC dropped 4.2%

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained nearly 0.2% to 25,165.94, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 1.0% 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% after its CEO said its annual revenue could top $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% to 8,918.00. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.7% 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.