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Shares rose in Asia on Monday and US futures rose after a surge in AI-related stocks NVIDIA inspired a rally wall Street,
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% to 50,455.07, giving huge gains to computer chip makers and other companies benefiting from a boom in artificial intelligence.
Semiconductor maker Tokyo Electron jumped 6.7% while chip test equipment maker Advantest gained 4.7%.
Financial companies and exporters also benefited after the Bank of Japan raised its key policy rate to the highest level in 30 years. Instead of the Japanese yen strengthening as expected, it has fallen to its lowest level this year.
Early Monday, the dollar was bought at 157.32 yen, down from 157.60 at the end of Friday. Heavy selling of the yen against the dollar led Atsushi Mimura, a top Finance Ministry official in charge of foreign exchange affairs, to warn that regulators would take action to prevent any excessive fluctuations in the currency.
Chinese markets saw moderate gains, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rising 0.2% to 25,751.93. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7% to 3,915.84.
China’s central bank left its 1-year and 5-year lending key rates unchanged.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.8% to 4,092.81 and Taiwan’s Taiex was 1.6% higher, leading chip maker TSMC up 2.1%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9% to 8,701.10.
,Asian “Taking cues from Friday’s solid bounce in US stocks and the growing sentiment that the final stretch of the year is still bullish, equity markets are taking the floor with a constructive bias,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a comment.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.9% to 6,834.50, up 0.1% for the week. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 48,134.89, while the Nasdaq rose 1.3% to 23,307.62. It registered a gain of 0.5% during the week.
Nvidia was the biggest force lifting the market, rising 3.9%. Broadcom jumped 3.2%.
The technology sector has been boosting Wall Street all year as companies with big valuations like Nvidia put more pressure on the markets. But, those expensive stock prices have come under greater scrutiny from investors wondering whether they are justified.
Oracle It rose 6.6% on news that it has signed a deal with two other investors to form a new TikTok US joint ventur e. Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each get a 15% stake in the popular social video platform, ensuring it can continue operating in the US.
Homebuilders fell after a report showed home sales slowed from a year earlier for the first time since May. KB Home fell 8.5%.
A University of Michigan survey showed that consumer sentiment improved slightly in December compared with November, but declined significantly from a year earlier.
Consumer confidence has been weakening throughout the year as persistent inflation continues to squeeze consumers. The job market is also slowing while retail sales are weakening. Businesses and consumers are also concerned about the continuing impact of the broader US-led trade war, which has targeted key partners including China and Canada.
Inflation is still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The central bank cut the benchmark interest rate in its recent meeting. It is worried about the slowing job market hurting the economy. But cutting interest rates could further fuel inflation, which could also stunt economic growth.
The Fed has maintained a cautious stance on interest rate policy through 2026 and Wall Street is mostly betting it will keep rates steady at its next meeting in January.
In other deals early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 50 cents to $57.02 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 53 cents at $61.00 a barrel.
The euro rose to $1.1724 from $1.1720.