Asian stocks rebound from tech rout as Nvidia boss eases AI fears

16/10/2026 13:52 AST

Most Asian markets rebounded Friday after the previous day's technology rout, which was driven by concerns over the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, as Nvidia chief Jensen Huang's defense of data center operator CoreWeave lifted sentiment. Seoul and Tokyo posted healthy gains in early trade, with chipmakers SK hynix and Kioxia among the best performers after being hammered Thursday.

The sell-off had been driven by higher-than-expected US inflation data, which boosted bets on more Federal Reserve rate hikes, and by concerns over the financial health of CoreWeave because of its huge debt. The New Jersey firm, which has borrowed heavily to buy costly chips from Nvidia, plunged 15.5 percent Wednesday as yields on some of its bonds soared. Huang lifted spirits on Thursday. "CoreWeave's strength is improving every day," he told Bloomberg. "I'm optimistic. Their cost of capital is actually decreasing." CoreWeave shares climbed almost 6 percent.

Huang's "defence of CoreWeave's financial position was enough to pull the NeoCloud complex off the floor, drag AI equities higher and give the broader market something resembling a pulse", wrote Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.

Seoul's Kospi rose 2.7 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 1.8 percent, after tumbling 7.6 percent and 4.9 percent respectively on Thursday. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and Manila were also well up. On Wall Street, the Dow closed 1.1 percent higher.

Traders had been awaiting comments from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh at the International Monetary Fund's annual meetings in Bangkok, hoping for insight into policymakers' thinking after this week's inflation data. The reading was the highest in five months and led investors to raise bets on a second straight rate hike this month. - AFP

Optional markets box (around 0200 GMT)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: up 1.8% at 65,563.62Seoul - Kospi: up 2.7% at 5,706.57Hong Kong - Hang Seng: up 1.1% at 24,325.19Shanghai - Composite: up 0.6% at 3,733.55New York - Dow: up 1.1% at 52,177.69 (close)London - FTSE 100: up 1.1% at 10,840.35 (close)WTI: down 0.3% at $97.71 per barrelBrent: down 0.2% at $105.74 per barrelEuro/dollar: down at $1.1210 from $1.1213Pound/dollar: down at $1.3272 from $1.3274Dollar/yen: up at 158.14 yen from 158.12 yenEuro/pound: up at 84.48 pence from 84.47 pence

AFP