Asian Markets Stabilize as Tech Rebound Follows Wall Street Gains

The broader market sentiment shifted after Wall Street finished higher, prompting investors to look past recent volatility. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix saw gains of 4.3% and 3.5%, respectively, helping the Kospi recover from a 7.6% drop that had triggered a temporary trading halt. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.8%, and Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.55%.

Confidence in the AI sector received a boost from Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, who addressed financial concerns surrounding the cloud provider CoreWeave. While the rebound offers temporary relief, market participants remain cautious regarding the company’s financing costs, particularly as some of its debt is tied to floating interest rates. On the currency front, Taiwan experienced record foreign equity outflows of US$9.9 billion on Thursday, putting continued pressure on the New Taiwan dollar and the South Korean won.

Energy markets told a different story as oil futures dipped following the International Energy Agency’s announcement of an accelerated release of emergency stockpiles. The IEA plans to exceed the 400 million barrels previously agreed upon in March, with an additional 100 million barrels—including 20 million barrels of diesel—slated for release. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.8% to $97.19 a barrel, while Brent slipped 0.65% to $105.23, as traders weighed potential U.S. concerns over the scale of diesel exports.