Asian Markets Mostly Higher Led By Tech Stocks

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Thursday after computer chip maker Nvidia delivered stellar third-quarter earnings and fourth-quarter forecast and struck a confident tone about the durability of the artificial intelligence (AI) cycle.

The dollar gained on diminished rate cut expectations and ahead of the release of the long-delayed September U.S. jobs report later in the day, originally scheduled for October 3.

Gold ticked lower after a two-day gain while oil edged up slightly as investors weighed the fallout from U.S. sanctions on Russia's Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC that are set to take effect on Friday.

China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.40 percent to 3,931.05 as the People's Bank of China held key lending rates steady for the sixth month. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed marginally higher at 25,835.57 after a choppy session.

Japanese markets surged to end a four-session losing streak led by a robust rally in technology stocks. Sentiment was also lifted by a weaker yen, which hit a 10-month low against the dollar after reports suggested that the government is in the final stages of assembling a stimulus package worth 21.3 trillion yen ($135.38 billion).

The Nikkei average hit an intraday high of 50,574 before paring some gains to end the session up 2.65 percent at 49,823.94. The broader Topix index settled 1.66 percent higher at 3,299.57. Among the top gainers, SoftBank Group, Tokyo Electron and Fujikura climbed 2-6 percent.

Seoul stocks soared, led by semiconductor and other blue-chip tech shares on hopes that the AI-driven market rally could regain momentum.

The Kospi average jumped 1.92 percent to 4,004.85, snapping a two-day losing run. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics surged 4.3 percent and chip giant SK Hynix advanced 1.6 percent.

Australian markets rebounded from five-month lows, with banks, miners and gold stocks leading the surge in a broad-based rally. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.24 percent to 8,552.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 1.29 percent at 8,834.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index climbed 0.84 percent to 13,439.40.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending higher overnight as technology stocks surged ahead of Nvidia's quarterly results.

The upside was capped as Target missed quarterly comparable sales estimates and the Federal Reserve's October meeting minutes revealed officials had mixed views about the outlook for interest rates and the inflationary impact of tariffs.

The Dow inched up 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to snap a four-day slide while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6 percent.