Asian Shares Climb Amid AI Optimism

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks advanced on Thursday as tech stocks surged amid continued hype over artificial intelligence.

Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the National Day holiday. Hong Kong 's Hang Seng index jumped 1.61 percent to 27,287.12 as traders returned to their desks after a holiday.

Alibaba shares rallied 3.5 percent after JPMorgan raised its target price on the stock. Semiconductor giant SMIC jumped nearly 13 percent on AI optimism as OpenAI unveiled Sora 2, its most advanced video generation model yet.

Japanese markets rebounded after four days of losses. The Nikkei average climbed 0.87 percent to 44,936.73 while the broader Topix index settled 0.24 percent lower at 3,087.40.

Chip-related shares tracked their U.S. peers higher after reports emerged that Intel is in early talks to add AMD as a foundry customer.

Tokyo Electron surged 7.9 percent and Advantest rallied 2.5 percent. Banks fell, with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial losing 1-2 percent.

Seoul stocks led regional gains on optimism over artificial intelligence. The Kospi average soared 2.70 percent to 3,549.21.

Samsung Electronics jumped 3.5 percent and SK Hynix climbed 10 percent after they signed an initial supply pact with OpenAI's Stargate project.

Investors shrugged off data that showed South Korea's consumer prices rose in September at a slightly faster pace than expected.

Australian markets rallied, with banks and mining stocks lading the surge despite disappointing trade balance data. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.13 percent to 8,945.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 1.13 percent at 9,240.30.

Alkane Resources, Lynas Rare Earths, Pilbara Minerals and Northern Minerals gained 3-8 percent after the U.S. government reportedly offered to buy equity in Australian critical mineral companies as part of efforts to cut reliance on China.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index edged up by 0.13 percent to 13,451.76.

Gold prices hovered near record levels in Asian trade while the dollar held steady on Fed rate cuts and U.S. government shutdown concerns.

Oil prices were marginally higher following losses in the previous three sessions.

Overnight, U.S. stocks reversed early losses to close higher for a fourth straight session amid expectations that a federal government shutdown would be brief and possibly have a negligible macroeconomic impact.

Vice President JD Vance said no final decisions on the layoffs have been made and that he doesn't believe the shutdown is "going to be that long."

Yields on Treasuries fell the most in nearly a month as a weak private-sector payrolls report showing a surprising decline of 32,000 private sector jobs in September added to bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice more this year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow inched up 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively, to reach new record closing highs.