Asian Stocks Rise, Euphoria Curbed by Nvidia
Asian stock markets opened higher on Thursday, following Wall Street's gains in the previous session. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose around 0.8%, but market optimism persisted after investors deemed Nvidia's sales projections underwhelming, resurfacing concerns about valuations and an "overheating AI economy."
In the US, the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq 100 gained 1.4% on Wednesday. In the bond market, Treasuries weakened across all tenors, while the US dollar fell slightly. Precious metals fluctuated but closed positive, while Bitcoin fell around 1.5% and held below $68,000.
Market participants had been hoping for Nvidia to provide "reassurance" that AI spending remained solid, allaying concerns that the stock price rally had outpaced fundamentals. Although Nvidia insists its AI computing expansion is ongoing, the market believes the company's projections aren't enough to dispel doubts—especially since some investors have set very high expectations (some analyst projections are approaching $80 billion, above the average Wall Street estimate of around $72.8 billion).
In Asia, the AI theme remains a key driver as investors continue to flock to semiconductor supply chain "picks and shovels" stocks like Samsung and TSMC. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump will convene executives of major technology companies next week to commit to funding data centers and prepare a course to raise global tariffs to 15% "if appropriate" while encouraging continuity with countries with which they already trade—factors that could potentially keep volatility high. (asd)
Source: Newsmaker.id
