(Sharecast News) - Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly higher on Tuesday, taking a positive lead from Wall Street after renewed strength in artificial intelligence-linked stocks overnight.
Nvidia shares rose more than 1% after Reuters reported the chipmaker was looking to start shipments of its H200 chips to China by mid-February, while Micron Technology climbed around 4% and Oracle advanced more than 3%, lifting broader risk sentiment across the region.
The upbeat tone in Asia contrasted with more tentative conditions elsewhere, with Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, noting that "European stock markets appear to have entered a period of consolidation as we head into the final trading days of 2025," following a strong run that has seen the DAX gain 4% in a month.
Australia managed a fourth straight day of gains, while investors also looked ahead to Singapore's November inflation reading, with economists expecting inflation to rise to its highest level in 2025.
Tokyo benchmark little changed
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was little changed, edging up 0.02% to 50,412.87, while the broader Topix added 0.53% to 3,423.25.
Shift rose 3.82%, Mercari gained 3.45% and Rakuten Group advanced 3.31%.
Rakuten's shares were supported by a memorandum of understanding between Veon's Beeline Kazakhstan unit and Rakuten Symphony to explore collaboration in next-generation connectivity, alongside ongoing investor focus on Rakuten's expanding artificial intelligence operations.
Separately, Bloomberg reported the group had grown its AI team to 1,000 staff and unveiled a new large language model that it said was 90% cheaper to run than comparable systems.
Currency moves were also in focus after Japan's finance minister warned of readiness to intervene against excessive yen weakness, a development that Mahony said triggered "a sharp bout of buying pressure this morning, as traders react to commentary from the finance minister who claimed she has a 'free hand' in addressing the excessive currency volatility."
China equities post modest gains
Mainland Chinese markets posted modest gains, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.07% at 3,919.98 and the Shenzhen Component rising 0.27% to 13,368.99.
Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric jumped 10.05%, Topscore Fashion Shoes climbed 10.04% and Hainan Haiqi Transportation Group rose 10.02%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.11% to 25,774.14, weighed down by declines in major technology stocks.
Kuaishou Technology fell 3.52% after Reuters reported the stock slid as much as 6% to HKD 62.70, its lowest since 21 November, following reports of a cyberattack that led to a surge in explicit content on its platform.
China Unicom Hong Kong and Tencent Holdings both declined 2.03%, even as reports suggested Tencent was accessing Nvidia's Blackwell chips via cloud infrastructure based in Japan and Australia.
In contrast, new listings surged, with QingSong Health Corporation jumping 134% and Nuobikan Artificial Intelligence Technology soaring 323% on their Hong Kong debuts after heavily oversubscribed initial public offerings.
South Korean equities advanced, with the Kospi rising 0.28% to 4,117.32.
Chunil Express surged 29.96%, TMC gained 29.95% and Keyang Electric Machinery rose 29.9%.
Australia, New Zealand join the rally
Australian shares outperformed the region, with the S&P/ASX 200 climbing 1.1% to 8,795.70.
DroneShield jumped 9%, Goodman Group rallied 8.25% after announcing an AUD 14bn partnership with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to develop data centres across Europe, and Austal gained 6.37%.
Minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia showed policymakers discussed the possibility that interest rate hikes could be needed in 2026 if inflation proves persistent, after consumer price inflation rose to 3.8% in October and core inflation climbed to 3.3%, though the board judged it would take more time to assess whether pressures would endure.
In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 edged up 0.07% to 13,517.73, with Synlait Milk rising 6.5%, KMD Brands up 3.7% and Tourism Holdings gaining 3.59%.
In broader markets, attention was turning back towards the US macro outlook, with Mahony highlighting that "today sees a raft of notable US data points released, with the second quarter GDP revision coming alongside core durable goods and consumer confidence metrics."
He added that while GDP was expected to be revised down from 3.8% to 3.3%, "there still remains a healthy trajectory given the hurdles faced by the economy amid tariff uncertainty and rising unemployment."
Dollar weakens against regional peers, oil prices higher
In currency markets, the yen strengthened as the dollar fell 0.71% to trade at JPY 155.94, while the Australian and New Zealand dollars also firmed, with the greenback down 0.51% against the former at AUD 1.4945 and off 0.71% on the latter to change hands at NZD 1.7136.
Oil prices were modestly higher, with Brent crude futures last up 0.18% on ICE at $62.18 a barrel, and the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate rising 0.12% to $58.08.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
23.25 (0.24%)
17.22
0.00