Investing.com — Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday as semiconductor shares rallied in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, while Hong Kong and Chinese technology stocks came under pressure.
Strong earnings from CoreWeave supported the AI trade, but hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation revived concerns over further Federal Reserve rate hikes.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose as much as 0.8%, extending a recovery that had delivered its strongest two-day advance in more than three months.
Technology shares led the gains, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 1.2% and S&P 500 futures added 0.6%, recovering losses in the underlying Nasdaq 100 during regular U.S. trading.
South Korea’s KOSPI gained 1.8%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.2% and the TOPIX rose 0.8%. South Korean chipmakers led gains, with SK Hynix climbing 3.6%, LG Innotek rising 3.6% and Samsung Electronics adding 2.4%.
In Japan, TDK gained 3.43%, Kioxia advanced 2.99% and Murata Manufacturing rose 2.65%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing gained 2.63%, while Largan Precision added 2.96%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9%, while the CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2%, each. Chinese technology losses were led by NetEase, down 2.6%, MiniMax, which fell 2.6%, and Meituan, which declined 2%. CXMT slipped 0.2%, while SMIC edged up 0.1%.
CoreWeave lifts AI optimism, but inflation revives rate concerns
CoreWeave shares rose around 2% in late U.S. trading after the AI computing provider reported quarterly results above analyst estimates and raised its annual forecast, indicating that demand for computing capacity remains strong despite concerns about constraints across the data-centre industry.
Anticipation also grew around Anthropic’s planned listing, with the company targeting a fully diluted valuation of $1.4 trillion.
The optimism was tempered by October U.S. inflation data. Consumer prices rose 0.4% month-on-month, while core CPI increased 0.3%, exceeding expectations for a third consecutive month.
Markets are now pricing in a quarter-point Fed rate increase in December, with some possibility of a larger move, and roughly three quarter-point hikes by June.
