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Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks rose on Thursday, with Japanese markets near record highs on sustained optimism over a U.S. trade deal, while technology shares were buoyed by strong earnings from Google owner Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
Strong earnings from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) supplier SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) also boosted Asian tech, especially as the memory chip giant flagged expectations for robust artificial intelligence-fueled demand.
Regional markets took positive cues from a record-high overnight close on Wall Street, as investors cheered a Japan-U.S. trade deal and held out hope for more such agreements before an August 1 deadline.
In addition to Alphabet’s earnings, tech shares were also encouraged by President Donald Trump flagging more policy support for the AI industry. This helped markets look past steep losses in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), after it clocked an underwhelming second quarter.
S&P 500 Futures rose 0.2% in Asian trade, while Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.4%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rises, TOPIX hits record high on trade deal
Japanese shares continued to outpace their peers after Tokyo and Washington agreed to a trade deal on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% and was near record-high levels last seen in July 2024, while the TOPIX surged 1.9% to a record high of 2,982.14 points.
Japan will face a 15% tariff on exports to the U.S., a smaller duty than the 25% initially threatened by Trump. Japanese automobiles will also face a 15% duty, which is lower than a 25% U.S. duty on foreign automobiles.
The deal cleared up some uncertainty over the impact of U.S. tariffs on the Japanese economy, although the 15% duty is still expected to provide some headwinds.
Optimism over the trade deal also saw Japanese markets largely rise past purchasing managers index data that showed the country’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly shrank in July. But services activity picked up.
Asia tech stocks buoyed by AI, earnings cheer
Broader Asian markets rose, with tech-heavy indexes leading gains as Trump’s summit and positive corporate earnings kept investors upbeat on AI.
South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.9%, buoyed by a near 2% rise in SK Hynix. The firm clocked a record-high second-quarter profit, and forecast few chances of a slowdown in AI-fueled demand.
SK Hynix rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) rose marginally.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.5% on gains in tech, although bigger advances were held back by a mixed performance in electric vehicle stocks.
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes rose 0.3% each, while Singapore’s Straits Times index added 0.5%.
Regional tech stocks took positive cues from Alphabet, which clocked consensus-beating Q2 earnings and said it was raising its capital spending to account for more AI and cloud demand.
Additionally, Trump signed three executive orders aimed at boosting the U.S. AI industry. The president also outlined plans to ramp up U.S. exports of AI technology.
Among broader Asian markets, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.1% amid some profit-taking at recent record highs.
Gift Nifty 50 Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index were flat, although the index remained buoyed by strong corporate earnings. Tech major Infosys Ltd (NSE:INFY) is expected to rise after it clocked strong June quarter earnings on Wednesday.