Asian stocks rise as AI rally lifts markets; dollar steady
Asian shares mostly advanced after AI-related gains pushed Wall Street higher, with South Korea’s Kospi up 5.6% in early trading. SK Hynix reported record quarterly operating profit, while investors watched for the Federal Reserve’s next rate decision. The dollar edged higher against the yen and the euro slipped.
Asian stocks get lift dollar held broadly steady Wednesday as AI shares drove a Wall Street rally, while investors watched for the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate decision. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 5.6% to 5,952.41 in early trading, and the U.S. dollar edged higher against the yen.
The gains were uneven across the region. Semiconductor shares helped lift several markets, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell and U.S. futures edged lower. Oil prices also rose.
Chipmakers lead regional gains
SK Hynix jumped 7% to its highest level in two weeks after reporting operating profit of 83.3 trillion won ($62.8 billion) for the last quarter. The company said the result was a record, nearly seven times its level a year earlier, and above market estimates.
Samsung Electronics surged 8.5% ahead of its third-quarter earnings report, due Thursday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% to 64,094.51, while Kioxia Holdings climbed 9.6% ahead of its quarterly report on Friday.
Other Asian markets posted smaller moves. Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.8%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4% to 8,889.10. The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.5% to 3,666.50. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.7% at 23,041.32.
The market’s regional split matters for investors tracking the technology trade: chipmakers’ strong moves contrasted with declines elsewhere, while company earnings and central bank decisions remained in focus. Those mixed signals also mean the broader advance did not reflect gains across every market or stock.
Wall Street gains despite broad declines
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, putting it within 1.2% of its all-time high set earlier this month. The Nasdaq composite advanced 1.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1%.
Most S&P 500 stocks fell. Gains among influential AI companies were enough to push the index higher, after weeks of investor concern about the cost of borrowing to build data centers and buy additional AI chips.
Broadcom climbed 4% after announcing a $63 billion financing deal involving several Wall Street firms. The arrangement will help Anthropic access Broadcom’s XPU AI accelerators and networking solutions. Nvidia added 0.9%, and CoreWeave rose 7.9%.
Not every company benefited. Boeing shares dropped 10.7% after the company reported a larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts had expected. Companies face pressure to deliver strong profit growth as expectations among analysts and investors remain high, according to the AP report.
Rates and currencies in focus
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets by keeping its benchmark interest rate at 2.75%. Its S&P/NZX 50 Index edged 0.1% higher.
U.S. Treasury yields were little changed ahead of the Federal Reserve’s scheduled rate announcement. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.99% from 5.00% late Monday. Wall Street widely expects the Fed to keep rates steady this time, after raising the federal funds rate last month for the first time in three years in an effort to slow inflation.
The dollar rose to 157.99 Japanese yen from 157.91 yen, while the euro eased to $1.1124 from $1.1127. For markets, the currency moves came alongside a split in equity performance: technology shares advanced, while some major indexes and individual stocks lagged.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 0.4% to $109.82 a barrel. U.S. benchmark crude gained 0.5% to $100.37 per barrel.
