Asia shares rise
Asian stock pushed higher on Wednesday despite the renewed artificial intelligence worries gripping international markets, while oil prices were under pressure after Iran touted progress in nuclear negotiations with the United States.
The New Zealand dollar sank after the central bank said monetary policy needs to remain accommodative for some time to support the economic recovery.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.93 percent to 57,090.14, poised to snap a three-day skid, while Australia’s S&P/ASX200 was up 0.5 percent.
Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korean were among markets closed for Lunar New Year holidays.
The positive start in Asia followed a lacklustre session on Tuesday on Wall Street as investors grappled with the outlook for the AI boom.
Concerns that companies are over-investing, along with angst about the extent to which the nascent technology could disrupt labor markets, have fuelled investor jitters in recent weeks.
In the U.S. overnight, The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.07 percent to 49,533.19, the S&P 500 was up 0.10 percent at 6,843.22 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.14 percent to 22,578.38. The S&P 500 fell 0.88 percent initially before making up ground to close in positive territory.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes was flat at 4.054 percent on Wednesday. The 30-year bond yield fell 0.4 basis points to 4.6788 percent.
Australian stocks climb
Australian shares climbed on Wednesday, powered by a record high for National Australia Bank after the lender posted strong first-quarter numbers, while BlueScope Steel jumped on an improved takeover offer.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.5 percent at 9,005 points, as of 2332 GMT.
The benchmark ended 0.2 percent higher on Tuesday.
Shares of National Australia Bank surged as much as 5.8 percent to an all-time high, after the lender logged a 16 percent rise in first-quarter cash earnings, driven by strong performance across its business and home-lending segments.
NAB shares pushed the broader financials sub-index up 1 percent, putting it on track to snap a three-day losing streak if the current momentum persists.
NAB was the last of the “Big Four” banks to report their earnings this month, with all lenders posting stronger profits.
Strong earnings and upbeat market reactions in the shares of Australia’s “Big Four” banks have propelled the sub-index almost 8 percent higher so far this month.
Meanwhile, shares of BlueScope Steel surged as much as 6 percent after SGH Ltd and US-based Steel Dynamics raised their buyout offer for Australia’s largest listed steelmaker to A$15 billion ($10.63 billion).
Japan’s Nikkei rises 1 pc
Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Wednesday, set to snap a four-day losing streak, as technology firms that are seen as involved in Japan’s $550 billion US investment project gained.
The Nikkei rose 1 percent to 57,131.89 as of 0135 GMT and the broader Topix was up 1.35 percent at 3,812.39.
President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday announced three projects valued at $36 billion to be financed by Japan, including an oil export facility in Texas, an industrial diamonds plant in Georgia, and a natural gas power plant in Ohio.
The projects are the first investments under Japan’s $550 billion US investment pledge as part of a trade deal that cut Trump’s tariffs on Japanese imports to 15 percent.
“Investors have been buying those stocks related to the Trump deal in the past several days,” said Takamasa Ikeda, senior portfolio manager at GCI Asset Management.
Electronic components TDK jumped 6.67 percent, while fibre optic cable makers Fujikura and Furukawa Electric rose 3.2 percent and 2.75 percent, respectively.
Technology investor SoftBank Group, which is expected to be part of the project, fell 1.89 percent after the artificial intelligence sector was excluded from the list of initial projects.
Other decliners included memory chip maker Kioxia, which slipped 3.64 percent to track a 5.7 percent drop in US memory chip maker Sandisk overnight.
Indian stocks set to open flat
India’s equity benchmarks are expected to open little changed on Wednesday, following modest gains in the previous session that were led by IT stocks after the Infosys–Anthropic deal.
Analysts expect further consolidation in the absence of key triggers.
The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 25,759.5 points as of 7:51 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 will open near Tuesday’s close of 25,725.4.
On Tuesday, the Nifty and Sensex rose about 0.2 percent each, with the IT index up roughly 1 percent as investors welcomed the potential for AI-led deal momentum in complex, regulated industries after Infosys announced a collaboration with Anthropic.
Even so, analysts see limited upside follow-through near term. Ajit Mishra, senior vice president of research at Religare Broking, said sentiment remains cautious without meaningful domestic catalysts, pointing to a likely consolidation phase in the Nifty.
Saudi main market sheds 85 points
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index closed lower in the latest session, falling 85.79 points, or 0.77 percent, to finish at 11,098.06.
The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index declined 0.63 percent to close at 1,495.23, while the parallel market index Nomu dropped 0.91 percent to 23,548.56.
Market breadth was firmly negative, with 42 gainers against 218 decliners on the main market. Trading activity saw 226 million shares exchanged, with total turnover reaching SR4.5 billion ($1.19 billion).
Among the session’s gainers, Tourism Enterprise Co. rose 9.40 percent to SR15.02. SHL Finance Co. advanced 4.51 percent to SR16.00, while Almasar Alshamil for Education Co. gained 3.56 percent to SR23.88.
Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development Co. added 3.03 percent to SR19.70, and Banque Saudi Fransi climbed 2.61 percent to SR19.30.
On the losing side, Almasane Alkobra Mining Co. recorded the steepest decline, falling 6.61 percent to SR96.