Hong Kong, Oct 16 (AP) Asian shares mostly advanced on Friday, a day after a tech sell-off dragged stocks lower, while Indonesia’s stock market plunged following a downgrade warning.
Index provider MSCI warned it would downgrade Indonesia from its “emerging market” status, triggering growing concerns of a capital flight.
US futures edged higher after Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh said the artificial intelligence shock could bring huge benefits to the global and US economies.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index jumped 3.6 per cent, after tumbling 7.6 per cent the day before on a sell-off of shares related to artificial intelligence. Samsung Electronics was up 4.2 per cent, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix added 3.5 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.9 per cent to 65,658.59, after falling 4.9 per cent a day earlier. OpenAI investor SoftBank Group climbed 1.7 per cent. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron was 2.8 per cent higher and memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings advanced 3.2 per cent.
The Asian technology stocks traded higher after losses in AI shares moderated in the US
Warsh said Friday at the IMF and World Bank gathering in Bangkok that AI could bring about positive impacts to global economies.
“I’d say, the advent of this new technology is probably the most consequential change to the US and the global economy in my lifetime,” Warsh said. “There really is, I think, a huge benefit to the global economy, the US economy, over the horizon.”
Taiwan’s Taiex, which also benefited from the AI frenzy, was up 0.6 per cent. But shares of TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., were 0.4 per cent lower even as it posted record quarterly profits on Thursday and said AI demand remained very strong.
In Indonesia, the Jakarta Composite index fell more than 10 per cent, the lowest in years, after MSCI said Indonesia’s continued classification as an emerging market would be “no longer appropriate.”
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.2 per cent to 24,353.69. The Shanghai Composite index rose 1 per cent to 3,742.66.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 1.1 per cent higher at 8,812.90.
India’s Sensex edged up 0.2 per cent.
On Thursday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 added 0.3 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.1 per cent, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.1 per cent.
AI and chip stocks had eased their losses. American AI cloud provider CoreWeave plummeted as much as 9.5 per cent in early trading but flipped later and ended 5.9 per cent higher. Nvidia closed 1.8 per cent lower following an earlier loss that reached 3.8 per cent. Broadcom was down 0.6 per cent, and AMD, or Advanced Micro Devices, was 1.5 per cent lower.
Oil prices steadied but continued to stay elevated as global oil supply remains under pressure without a deal between the US and Iran to end the Iran war.
The International Energy Agency also said Thursday its members agreed to release in a timely manner the remaining about 100 million barrels of oil outstanding from its pledge in March and that the release total amount to be released would exceed the original 400 million barrels planned.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.4 per cent to USD 105.46 per barrel. That is still higher compared with around USD 72 a barrel in late February before the start of the war.
Oil remains well-supported as uncertainties surrounding the situation in the Middle East and concerns over oil flows in the Strait of Hormuz had the market “pricing in a significant risk premium,” ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a commentary Friday.
The US dollar fell to 157.83 Japanese yen from 158 yen. The euro was trading at USD 1.1228, up from USD 1.1220.
(PTI News)
