TOKYO: Stocks rose across most of Asia on Thursday, with the chip sector buoyant following a strong rally among U.S. peers overnight.
A robust start to the earnings season on Wall Street also helped lift the mood. Simmering trade frictions between Beijing and Washington increased the appeal of safe havens like gold – which renewed a record high – and the Japanese yen, while undercutting the dollar.
Crude oil gained after U.S. President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged his country would stop buying oil from Russia, which supplies about one-third of its imports.
Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.8%, with chip- and artificial intelligence-related shares boosting the index.
Taiwanese shares climbed 1.4%, South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 1.8% and Australia’s equity benchmark added 1.1%, with all three touching lifetime highs.
Taiwan chipmaker TSMC reports earnings later in the day, after Dutch chip-making tool manufacturer ASML reported third-quarter orders and operating income above market expectations, underpinned by booming AI investment.
Hong Kong and mainland Chinese shares were also higher after an initial wobble, despite the drag from trade tensions.
U.S. stock futures were overall flat following a 0.4% gain for the S&P 500 and a 0.6% rise for the tech-heavy Nasdaq overnight. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index surged 3%.
Optimism over the AI narrative and signs of economic strength from robust U.S. bank earnings stole the spotlight for stock investors, even with Trump pronouncing late Wednesday that the U.S. is “in a trade war with China” – which markets had already concluded from recent comments from both sides.
Gold rose another 0.6% in the latest session to reach an unprecedented $4,234.41 per ounce.
The dollar sagged for a third straight session, dropping 0.2% against a basket of major peers.
It slipped as much as 0.4% to 150.51 yen, putting the psychologically key 150 line in focus. It also eased 0.4% to 0.7943 Swiss franc, another traditional haven currency.
The euro added 0.2% to $1.1667.
There were some hopeful signs of calming trade tensions, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying an extension of the current tariff reprieve was possible, and that Trump still expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month.
“The brinkmanship between the U.S. and China hasn’t dissipated yet,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com.
“It will only simmer down completely when the Chinese back off the threat of rare earth export curbs and the U.S. reverse the tariff hike to 100% slated for November 1. Until then, trepidation will remain in the markets.”
Trump’s trade manoeuvres also lifted oil off five-month lows, with Brent crude futures up 0.9% at $62.48 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures also adding 0.9% to trade at $58.81.
On Wednesday, the U.S. president said India would halt oil purchases from its top supplier Russia, and Washington would next try to get China to do the same as it intensifies efforts to cut off Moscow’s energy revenues and pressure it to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.
