Asian Shares Mixed Before Tech Earnings, Fed Decision

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday as investors awaited earnings from major U.S. technology companies and the outcome of a slew of central bank meetings this week for direction.

Alphabet and Microsoft are scheduled to report their earnings results on Wednesday, followed by Amazon and Intel on Thursday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement is due on Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to leave rates unchanged.

Gold held near $4,000 an ounce in Asian trade as the U.S. dollar strengthened ahead of the Fed decision.

Brent crude futures edged up slightly to hold above $116 a barrel in choppy trade after falling in the previous session amid renewed diplomatic efforts to prevent a wider escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict.

Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets ended lower on worries about AI demand and curbs on Chinese exports.

While China's Shanghai Composite index fell 1.33 percent to 3,648.30, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.73 percent to 23,041.32.

Japanese markets rose sharply as Anthropic's IPO filing along with an announcement by Meta Platforms to raise up to $95 billion in its largest-ever equity fundraising revived investor appetite for artificial intelligence stocks.

The Nikkei average jumped 1.73 percent to 63,268.37 while the broader Topix index closed 0.61 percent higher at 3,997.37. Advantest soared 9 percent, Tokyo Electron rallied 3.1 percent and SoftBank Group surged 5 percent.

Seoul stocks rallied after the release of strong GDP data for the third quarter. The Kospi index surged 3.09 percent to 5,638.34, with chipmakers leading the surge before a host of major tech earnings.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed 4.2 percent and its chip rival SK Hynix added 5.2 percent.

Australian markets rose for a third consecutive session as higher copper prices boosted mining stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.46 percent to 8,850.10 ahead of Wednesday's inflation print and next week's RBA rate decision. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.47 percent higher at 8,968.80.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index dipped 0.39 percent to 13,680.27, extending losses for a third straight session.

U.S. stocks closed higher overnight as Anthropic's IPO filing stemmed anxiety about a potential AI bubble and oil prices fell after last week's surge amid hopes for regional diplomacy in the Middle East.

A Qatari delegation was in Tehran on Sunday to work in co-ordination with the U.S. as part of ongoing efforts to de-escalate regional tensions and push for an interim deal.

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for talks related to regional security amid renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Iran-aligned Houthi militants of Yemen.

Meanwhile, CNN reported, citing two U.S. officials that U.S. forces in West Asia are ready to launch new, potentially, major, military operation against Iran "within 96 hours of receiving" an order from President Trump and that the scope of operation could go beyond limited strikes on Iranian radars, missile launchers and other military assets that can be quickly rebuilt.

While the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively to come off consecutive weekly declines, the narrower Dow edged up 0.3 percent.