Bangkok, Nov 10: Asian shares advanced on Monday, lifted by technology shares as they rebounded from last week’s jitters over the run up in stocks related to artificial intelligence.
South Korea’s Kospi led the gains, jumping 3.5 per cent. Computer chip maker SK Hynix, which is cooperating with Nvidia on artificial intelligence, surged 5.5 per cent. Its bigger rival, Samsung Electronics, was up 2.4 per cent.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 1.2 per cent to 50,897.20, lifted by big gains for AI related shares such as chip maker Tokyo Electron, which surged 4.7 per cent.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.8 per cent to 26,445.65 and the Shanghai Composite index was barely changed, at 2,630.42.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.7 per cent at 8,826.50.
Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 1.2 per cent, while the Sensex in India gained 0.5 per cent.
On Friday, stock indexes closed mixed on Wall Street, clocking their first weekly loss in the last four. The S&P 500 inched 0.1 per cent higher, to 6,728.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2 per cent to 46,987.10.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq fell as much as 2.1 per cent, but recovered most of its losses, shedding 0.2 per cent to 23,004.54.
Major indexes wobbled throughout most of the week, weighed down by technology stocks, especially several big names with huge valuations that give them outsized influence over the direction of the market. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, fell 2.1 per cent and Broadcom fell 1.7 per cent.
Wall Street remains focused on the latest quarterly reports and forecasts from US companies.
Payments company Block, which operates the Square and Cash App businesses, sank 7.7 per cent after turning in results that fell short of forecasts. Exercise equipment maker Peloton jumped 14.2 per cent after its results beat estimates.
Expedia Group surged 17.5 per cent after beating analysts’ quarterly earnings forecasts.
More than 90 per cent of companies within the S&P 500 have reported earnings for their latest quarter. Most companies have reported growth beyond Wall Street expectations and the influential tech sector has the strongest growth, according to data from FactSet.
Corporate profits and forecasts were already being scrutinised by Wall Street as investors try to gauge whether the market’s overall high value is justified. The results have taken on more significance amid a lack of other data about the economy because of the US government shutdown, which is now the longest on record.
The shutdown is responsible for delays in key economic data on inflation and employment that traders and the Federal Reserve rely on in making decisions about investments and policy. The lack of data on employment is especially troubling because the job market has been weakening.
The Fed has signalled a more cautious approach on interest rate cuts that Wall Street has been expecting to help stimulate the economy by reducing the cost of borrowing.
The Fed has already cut its benchmark rate twice this year as it tries to counter the impact that a weakening employment market could have on economic growth. Cutting rates could worsen inflation at a time when levels are stubbornly higher than the central bank’s 2 per cent goal, however.
Wall Street is still mostly betting that the Fed will cut interest rates at its December meeting.
In other dealings early Monday, US benchmark crude oil picked up 54 cents to USD 60.29 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 49 cents to USD 64.12 per barrel.
The US dollar rose to 153.94 Japanese yen from 153.72 yen. The euro inched up to USD 1.1564 from USD 1.1562. (AP)
