Stock market: confidence in AI shares returns; Asia rises
Taiwan posts strong results; Tokyo and Seoul also perform well. Oil prices fall
Asian share markets and US futures are trading higher after artificial intelligence-related shares recouped some of the ground lost during last week’s sell-off.
Taiwan’s Taiex index led the gains with a 5.6 per cent surge, driven by the performance of chipmaker TSMC, which rose by a strong 5.6 per cent.
Technology shares in the region benefited from Friday’s gains in the United States, where Big Tech found some respite from the correction it suffered earlier in the week due to fears that Democratic victories in the mid-term elections might slow down the construction of data centres dedicated to artificial intelligence, particularly in Texas.
Trading got off to a strong start in Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 index rose by 3.4 per cent to close at 59,411.34. Chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rose by 6.5 per cent, whilst Advantest, which produces testing equipment, rose by 5.1 per cent.
SoftBank Group’s shares fell by 2.9 per cent as the company sought to salvage a $5.4 billion deal in the robotics sector with the Swiss firm ABB, which had been rejected by the Chinese regulatory authorities.
