Kamal Ghorui
Asian stocks traded in green on Wednesday, mirroring Wall Street’s gains and sustained enthusiasm around the artificial intelligence boom. Investors also kept close eye on US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, delivered during Asian trading hours. In Japan, Nikkei benchmark index touched a fresh record, leading the positive mood across the region.Nikkei jumped 1,384 points to 58,705, recording a whopping 2,42% gain. Kospi followed the rally adding 2.28% to 6,106. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also inched higher, adding almost 200 points.Shanghai and Shenzhen also traded in green, adding over 1% each. The advances in Tokyo came even as Beijing moved a day earlier to curb exports to 40 Japanese companies and organisations that it alleges are aiding Japan’s “remilitarisation”. Within the Japanese market, stock movements were uneven. Shares of Subaru Corp and Mitsubishi Materials Corp moved higher, while Eneos Corp and Sumitomo Heavy Industries declined. Market watchers pointed to the softer yen as supportive for export-driven counters such as Honda Motor Co and Panasonic Corp. The US dollar eased slightly to 155.78 yen from 155.83 yen, after having traded near the 160 yen mark several months earlier. The euro edged up to $1.1784 from $1.1779. US markets had already set a positive tone overnight. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% on Tuesday, recouping nearly three-quarters of the previous session’s steep decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 370 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1%. Advanced Micro Devices was a standout performer, jumping 8.8% after unveiling a multiyear agreement to provide chips to Meta Platforms to support its artificial intelligence push. Under the arrangement, Meta also secured the option to purchase up to 160 million AMD shares at 1 cent each, contingent in part on the volume of chips it ultimately purchases. In commodities trading, benchmark US crude rose 45 cents to $66.08 per barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 47 cents to $71.24 per barrel.
