(Feb 25): Asian stocks opened higher on Wednesday after a rally in technology shares lifted Wall Street benchmarks, tempering concern about the disruptive effects of artificial intelligence (AI) that had rattled markets for weeks.
Shares opened higher in Japan, South Korea and Australia, helping the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index extend its advance to a third day. A rebound in the battered software stocks drove the Nasdaq 100 up 1.1%, while the S&P 500 also advanced, ahead of the key earnings from Nvidia Corp on Wednesday. Advanced Micro Devices Inc’s deal with Meta Platforms Inc also boosted sentiment.
A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar was steady ahead of US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address late in Washington on Tuesday. Treasuries were a touch lower with the yield on the benchmark 10-year rising almost one basis point to 4.04%. Gold pared some losses from the prior session, while bitcoin headed for its worst month since crypto’s collapse of June 2022.
The disruptive potential of AI has roiled stocks across sectors for weeks in what’s become known as the AI scare trade. Tuesday’s rebound followed comments from Anthropic PBC, which said it plans to build partnerships — easing concerns that its Claude chatbot technology will integrate with, rather than displace, existing businesses.
“This ‘we are here to help, not hurt’ message from Anthropic is helping to trigger a fairly healthy rebound rally in software,” said Adam Crisafulli at Vital Knowledge.
Before Tuesday’s recovery, investors had been skittish for weeks on AI-related sell-offs targeting a range of industries such as software, insurance brokerage, wealth management and cybersecurity, among others.
See also: China gains as Asian stocks avoid AI angst in US
Earlier this week, concerns over tariffs and geopolitics coupled with a report by Citrini Research and worries about the potential disruption caused by another tool from Anthropic were enough to send the stock market careening.
While US stocks have been volatile, Asian markets have outperformed their global peers and largely avoided the tech volatility. The standout gainer was South Korea, which advanced as much as 1.2% to a record on Wednesday.
See also: Stocks, dollar drop as trade jitters hit sentiment
South Korea’s Kospi Index has gained about 43% this year and is the world’s best-performing stock market.
Elsewhere, the yen was steady in early trading, following declines on Tuesday as local media reported that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi voiced apprehension over more rate hikes in a meeting with Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda last week.
Still, the main risk event in the tech sector on Wednesday will be Nvidia’s earnings.
The company is facing a high-stakes moment with its latest quarterly results, with the world waiting for fresh evidence that the AI spending boom remains on track.
To satisfy investors, Nvidia likely needs to deliver another blockbuster report. That means easily topping the forecasts it gave three months ago and setting new targets that are above current Wall Street estimates. The company has done this repeatedly, but concerns have grown that the AI spending frenzy isn’t sustainable.
This week’s earnings will either “calm or exacerbate” AI fears, said David Laut at Kerux Financial.
“We won’t have all of the answers this week, but worried investors are hungry for clarity,” he said.
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Corporate news:
- Workday shares were down 8% in extended trading, after the software company gave a full-year forecast that is weaker than expected.
- HP Inc shares were down 6.8% in extended trading, after the computer company reported its first-quarter results and gave an outlook. The company said it expects its full-year results “to be closer to the low end of our range”, given rising memory prices and other factors.
- Warner Bros Discovery Inc said a new US$31 ($39.27)-a-share buyout offer from Paramount Skydance Corp could lead to a better deal than its existing agreement with Netflix Inc.
- HSBC Holdings plc’s earnings on Wednesday come with revenue prospects and the buyout of a subsidiary in focus.
- Payment processing firm Stripe Inc is considering an acquisition of all or parts of PayPal Holdings Inc.
- The board of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd deferred a decision on granting a third term to chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran in the latest sign that another leadership tussle is brewing at India’s oldest conglomerate.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9.44am Tokyo time on Wednesday
- Hang Seng futures rose 0.8%
- Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 0.8%
- Japan’s Topix fell 0.2%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9%
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.1%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro was little changed at US$1.1778
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 155.86 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8768 per dollar
- The Australian dollar rose 0.2% to US$0.7072
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 0.2% to US$64,191.25
- Ether was little changed at US$1,855.31
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.04%
- Australia’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.71%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to US$66.18 a barrel
- Spot gold rose 0.1% to US$5,150.93 an ounce
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
