Asian Shares Advance On Revived AI Optimism

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Wednesday as technology shares followed their U.S. peers higher amid renewed optimism over artificial intelligence demand.

Investors also awaited big tech earnings and the upcoming Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision for direction.

Alphabet and Microsoft are scheduled to report their quarterly earnings results later today, followed by Amazon on Thursday.

U.S. Treasury yields rose and the U.S. dollar held near a two-week high ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision later today, followed by rate decisions from the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan this week.

The U.S. central bank is expected to keep rates steady despite inflation data for September coming in hotter than expected.

Gold dipped below $4,050 an ounce after rising 1.1 percent to about $4,060 an ounce in the previous session.

Brent crude futures traded up over 1 percent above $115 a barrel, paring losses from the previous two sessions as investors monitored election results in Israel and assessed efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Persian Gulf.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.91 percent to 3,681.47, rebounding from two sessions of losses on concerns over slowing economic momentum and a lack of large-scale fiscal stimulus. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged up 0.23 percent to 23,094.83.

Japanese markets rose sharply, led by technology shares amid positive sentiment surrounding U.S. technology companies. The Nikkei average rallied 1.08 percent to 63,954.19 while the broader Topix index settled 0.14 percent lower at 3,991.71.

Kioxia Holdings soared 13.8 percent and SoftBank Group surged 4.7 percent. Shin-Etsu Chemical, Screen Holdings and Disco Corp added 3-5 percent.

Seoul stocks skyrocketed to hit a two-week high, propelled by rallies in chipmakers and other tech stocks. The Kospi index surged 6.63 percent to 6,012.44.

SK Hynix shares soared nearly 11 percent after the global AI memory leader reported a more than sevenfold surge in quarterly operating profit to a record high and unveiled plans to return 100 trillion won ($75 billion) to shareholders. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed 9 percent and SK Square advanced 11.2 percent.

Australian markets ended on a flat note, giving up early gains after September inflation came in above forecasts, raising expectations of a Reserve Bank of Australia rate hike at next week's meeting.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index finished marginally higher at 13,691.33, erasing morning losses after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand unexpectedly kept policy rates on hold in a 4-3 vote and said tighter policy is likely but conditional.

Overnight, U.S. stocks closed higher as easing oil prices soothed inflation jitters and chip stocks gained for a third straight session on news of Anthropic's much-anticipated IPO and strong earnings from SpaceX.

Oil prices fell for a second straight day after Iranian leader Mojtaba Khamenei called for pursuing the conditions set out by Iranian officials with the aim of ending the war.

Markets were buoyed by renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence as Meta Platforms Inc.'s upsized $25 billion share sale ended five times oversubscribed, Broadcom announced a $63 billion AI hardware deal, and Oracle expanded its OpenAI and Nvidia partnerships.

Data showed rising new orders for computers and peripheral equipment, confirming that capital expenditure in the technology sector remains strong.

Another report revealed U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly improved in October for the first time in four months amid an easing in gasoline prices.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.2 percent and the S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent while the narrower Dow ended little changed after aerospace giant Boeing cut its delivery target.