In Japan, where investors returned after a day off, the stock market ended slightly higher on Wednesday. The Japanese chip companies were under pressure after a disappointing quarterly report from the American chip maker Texas Instruments. Furthermore, the focus remained on Europe, where the Brexit seems to be postponed again after the defeat of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the Lower House.

The leading Nikkei in Tokyo eventually closed 0.3 percent in the plus at 22,625.38 points. Suppliers to the Rohm and Tokyo Electron chip sector lost up to 4.1 percent. Texas Instruments’ weak outlook for the current quarter fueled concerns over the recovery of global chip demand.

SoftBank, a heavyweight in the Nikkei, fell 2.5 percent. The Japanese tech investor is pumping billions into WeWork, the provider of office workspaces that ran into problems in the run-up to a stock exchange flotation. The interest of SoftBank thus rises to 80 percent. The valuation of WeWork is plunged by billions through the rescue plan.

The Shanghai stock market fell by 0.2 percent in the min. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.8 percent, following reports that China is working to replace Hong Kong’s Carrie Lam leader, who is under severe pressure from massive protests in the city. The Kospi in Seoul lost 0.4 percent. LG Display fell more than 2 percent prior to the quarterly figures of the South Korean screen maker. The All Ordinaries in Sydney remained virtually unchanged.