Asian stock markets advanced mid-day on Tuesday, November 19, inspired by the previous day’s bullish Tech movement on the New York Stock Exchange, while observing a degree of caution ahead of the earnings announcement from American company Nvidia.
Tokyo inspired by semiconductors
Japan’s flagship Nikkei index ended morning trading up 0.55% at 38,429.37 points, while the broader Topix index gained 0.47% to 2,704.47 points. The rebound of the Nasdaq index on the New York Stock Exchange benefited a number of Japanese semiconductor stocks in particular: Advantest gained 4.17% and Sumco 0.51%, while Tokyo Electron remained at equilibrium (+0.02%).
Japanese markets are tempering their enthusiasm, however, ahead of Wednesday’s earnings announcement from US semiconductor giant Nvidia, which became the world’s largest capitalization at the beginning of November after overtaking Apple. “With its dominant position in terms of market capitalization and artificial intelligence, Nvidia has become the ultimate market heavyweight.”and its results will be “a decisive moment to feed (or not) optimism fueled by AI”said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
The yen hangs on the BoJ
Traders also continued to assess the likelihood of a rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) in December, after its governor Kazuo Ueda hinted on Monday that such a monetary decision was not out of the question, weighing on the Japanese currency. “With the yen weakening against the dollar, the possibility of a rate hike at the December meeting is likely to be a market concern going forward.”commented Takuma Ikemoto, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Lab.
At around 02:20 GMT, the greenback was up at 154.13 yen to the dollar.
Chinese stock markets cautious
China’s stock markets are also benefiting from gains in US tech, in a climate of persistent nervousness after the disappointment linked to Beijing’s recent announcements of stimulus measures and fears of heightened Sino-American trade tensions.
At around 02:25 GMT in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 0.35% at 19,645.60 points.
The Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.24% and the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.37%.
Black gold still in the green
Oil prices continued to climb on Tuesday, after ending sharply higher on Monday, buoyed by the shutdown of Norway’s main oil field and fears of a widening conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
At around 02:20 GMT, the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent crude was up 0.14% at $73.40, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was also up 0.14% at $69.26.
Bitcoin at $91,000
Bitcoin is catching its breath after surpassing $92,500 the previous day, not far from last week’s all-time high. At around 02:00 GMT, the cryptocurrency star was hovering around $91,000.