Asian stocks rise with Nikkei in the lead amid AI hype; China lags
Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks rose on Monday, with Japanese shares leading gains as hype over AI drove investors into tech, while Chinese markets continued to decline amid persistent fears of a slowing economic recovery.
Regional stocks took a positive lead-in from Wall Street, after U.S. stock benchmarks notched record highs on Friday amid stellar gains in the tech sector. Buying into tech was fueled largely by hopes that increasing demand for artificial intelligence development will spur renewed interest in the sector.
Japanese stocks were the biggest beneficiaries of this notion, with the Nikkei 225 surging 1.2% to a new 34-year high, while the broader TOPIX added 0.7% and also traded at its highest level since 1990.
Yamaha Motor Co Ltd (TYO:7272) was the top performer on the Nikkei, surging 5.4% after it announced a deal to buy electric motor maker Torqeedo from Germany’s Deutz AG (F:DEZG)- a sign that the legacy motorcycle manufacturer planned to push further into the electric vehicle market.
Broader strength in Japanese stocks was fueled by growing conviction that the Bank of Japan will largely maintain its ultra-dovish policy at the conclusion of a meeting on Tuesday.
A dovish BOJ was a major point of support for Japanese markets, given that monetary conditions in the country remained ultra-loose even as most other major central banks began hiking rates over the past two years.
Major Japanese tech stocks- particularly those with exposure to the chipmaking sector- also clocked strong gains. Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) and Tokyo Electron (TYO:8035) added 3% and 1%, respectively.
Broader Asian markets rose on Monday, buoyed chiefly by tech gains after TSMC (TW:2330) (NYSE:TSM)- the world’s largest contract
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