Highlights
- FTSE 100 set to open lower
- South Korea: Kospi surged more than 6%.
- Japan: Nikkei gained around 1%.
London headed for the red
The FTSE 100 looks set to open around 22 points in the red, piling on Tuesday's pain, which saw the blue-chip index close 81 points lower.
The big news in the UK comes from Chancellor John Healey, who delivers his maiden Budget speech later in parliament.
Leaks ahead of the parliamentary address suggest fiscal changes will likely be incremental. An enhanced banking tax has been mooted.
Overnight, the Nasdaq clawed back some more of the losses endured last week, while Asia's chip-driven indices, Korea's KOSPI in particular, received a boost from the swing in sentiment.
Asian markets rally
Asian markets were mostly higher on Wednesday, led by a powerful semiconductor rally in South Korea and gains in Japan and Taiwan, while Australian shares surrendered an early advance after hotter-than-expected inflation data.
South Korea was the standout, with technology stocks surging after strong semiconductor earnings reinforced optimism around artificial intelligence demand, while investors across the region awaited the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision.
ASX reverses after inflation surprise
The S&P/ASX 200 closed almost unchanged at 8,847.3, reversing a sizeable earlier gain after Australian inflation came in stronger than expected.
Australian consumer prices increased 4.3% over the year to September, up from 4.0% in August, while trimmed mean inflation rose to 3.6%, increasing expectations that interest rates could remain higher for longer.
The Australian dollar was trading around US$0.703, having strengthened as traders reassessed the Reserve Bank of Australia outlook.
Korea surges as chip stocks rally
South Korea’s Kospi surged more than 6% to around 6,000, briefly trading above the psychologically important 6,000 level as semiconductor heavyweights attracted heavy buying.
The rally followed strong results from SK Hynix and renewed confidence in demand for memory chips used in artificial intelligence infrastructure, with Samsung Electronics also posting strong gains.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was around 64,000, up roughly 1.3%, as chip and technology stocks followed Wall Street higher.
Taiwan’s Taiex was also strongly higher, gaining around 2% as semiconductor stocks participated in the regional technology rally.
China and Hong Kong edge higher
Mainland Chinese equities recovered from Tuesday’s sharp decline, with the Shanghai Composite trading around 3,674, up roughly 0.7%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was around 23,100, modestly higher after moving between gains and losses during the session as strength in technology stocks was offset by caution around interest rates and mainland fund flows.
India falls as oil and tech weigh
Indian equities bucked the broader regional strength, with the Sensex down around 1% near 72,900 and the Nifty 50 trading close to 22,560 in morning trade.
Higher crude prices weighed on sentiment in the oil-importing economy, while technology stocks were among the biggest drags ahead of the Federal Reserve decision.
Wall Street provides positive lead
US equities advanced overnight as artificial intelligence stocks extended their rebound.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 7,722.60, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.2% to 26,477.81, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was almost unchanged at 52,377.57.
Investors are now focused on the Federal Reserve decision and another heavy round of US technology earnings.
Commodities
Oil remained elevated amid continuing Middle East tensions, with Brent crude around US$116 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate above US$101.
Gold remained above US$4,000 an ounce, trading around US$4,050, as markets positioned ahead of the Federal Reserve announcement.
The combination of strong technology earnings, rising oil prices and renewed inflation concerns is leaving Asian markets divided between enthusiasm around AI-linked stocks and caution over the interest-rate outlook.
