RESURGENT artificial intelligence shares lifted the Nasdaq on Friday for a second straight session while the yen retreated despite a Bank of Japan interest rate hike.
The tech-forward Nasdaq piled on 1.31 per cent to close at 23,307.62 after a similar gain on Thursday following blowout earnings from chip company Micron Technology.
But several leading AI names including Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Google parent Alphabet rose Friday with Micron, which soared for a second straight session.
Large tech names are “kind of carrying the market in today’s session,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. Those gains “helped stabilise a market that was kind of acting a little squirrely over the past week,” he added.
Stocks have been choppy in recent weeks amid unease over the massive spending spree on AI infrastructure. But Micron’s results helped reignite the AI stock trade.
The Dow and S&P 500 also advanced on a day in which most leading European and Asian bourses also rose.
Also on Friday, the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates to a 30-year high.
The unanimous vote to lift the main borrowing rate to 0.75 per cent from 0.5 per cent came hours after official data showed the country’s core inflation rate held steady in November but was still well above policymakers’ two per cent target.
The bank began hiking rates from below zero in March last year as figures signaled an end to the country’s “lost decades” of stagnation, with inflation surging.
However, the dollar jumped about 1.3 per cent following comments from BoJ governor Kazuo Ueda that left some traders wondering about what comes next.
“Cautious comments on the rate outlook from BoJ Governor Ueda at his press conference have undercut the yen.” said a note from Scotiabank.
Russia’s central bank said it was cutting its benchmark interest rate to 16 per cent as the country’s economy sags under the financial burden of the Ukraine offensive and Western sanctions.
The Bank of England cut rates on Thursday, when the European Central Bank left eurozone borrowing costs unchanged.
Shares in Oracle jumped nearly seven percent after TikTok said it had signed a joint venture deal with investors that would allow the company to maintain operations in the United States.
The deal will see Oracle take a 15-per cent stake in the joint venture with private equity fund Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, an Emirati state-owned investment fund for artificial intelligence technologies.
But Nike tumbled 10.5 per cent after reporting lower quarterly earnings as the sports giant continues to be dogged by poor sales in China. AFP
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
