Asian shares cautious, dollar gives back gains

Options imply share volatility for Nvidia; China's central bank holds lending rates steady; Wall St futures up, Asia mixed; Bitcoin not far from record high.

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Asian shares were cautious on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to earnings results from AI darling Nvidia where the risk of disappointment is high, while the dollar gave back a little of its recent bumper gains. The world's most valuable company Nvidia will report its third-quarter results after the bell. Shares already climbed 4.

9 per cent overnight and options imply a big move of almost 9.0 per cent either direction in the $US3.6 ($A5.



5) trillion stock often seen as a barometer for the tech sector's shift to AI. Nasdaq futures rose 0.2 per cent on Wednesday on top of a 1.

0 per cent jump overnight. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat and Tokyo's Nikkei slipped 0.3 per cent.

Bitcoin last held at $US91,914 ($A140,734), having broken above $US94,000 ($A143,928) for the first time overnight on expectations that US President-elect Donald Trump's administration will be crypto-friendly. In China, the central bank held the benchmark lending rates steady as widely expected. China's blue chips fell 0.

2 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged up 0.1 per cent. "NVDA was naturally the key topic on everyone's mind.

Big-picture, a nice beat seems widely anticipated tomorrow," said Joshua Meyers, executive director at JPMorgan. "FY26 expectations have become quite ebullient, a worry that comes up increasingly in conversations ..

. Jensen's commentary on the call will be particularly important to level-set expectations (or not)." Overnight, investors were rattled by Ukraine's use of US missiles to strike Russia, with Russia lowering the threshold for a possible nuclear strike, although those fears seem to have abated a little.

They are also watching the Treasury secretary pick from Trump as he assembles his governing team. CNN reported Trump can announce the decision as soon as on Wednesday. Safe-haven currencies such as the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc gained briefly, as well as Treasuries.

Benchmark 10-year note yields were last up 1.0 bp at 4.3903 per cent, having fallen 4.

0 basis points, still some distance away from a five-month top of 4.505 per cent. The yen held at 154.

96 per dollar, having hit a one-week high of 153.28 per dollar overnight. The US dollar held onto the overnight losses at 106.

19, off from its recent one-year top of 107.07. Oil prices rose slightly on Wednesday, building onto the small gains overnight.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.2 per cent to $US69.53 ($A106.

46) a barrel, having ended Tuesday just 0.3 per cent higher Gold climbed for a third consecutive session, up 0.2 per cent to $US2,637.

95 ($A4,039.10) per ounce..