Asian Markets Mixed as Nvidia’s Earnings Fail to Sustain US Rally
TOKYO – Asian markets presented a mixed picture Friday, following a downturn in U.S. stocks triggered by a slide in Nvidia shares despite the company reporting strong quarterly earnings. The performance underscores investor sensitivity to valuations in the booming artificial intelligence sector.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dipped 0.6%, after reaching a record high on Thursday. The broader Topix index remained largely unchanged. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.1%, with the Kosdaq losing 0.35%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index bucked the trend, rising 0.68%, while the CSI 300 in China edged down 0.49%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was flat in early trading.
The pullback in Asia followed a negative session in the U.S., where the S&P 500 fell 0.54% to 6,908.86, the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.18% to 22,878.38, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained a marginal 0.03% to 49,499.20.
Nvidia, a key player in the AI chip market, saw its shares tumble more than 5% despite exceeding expectations for both earnings and revenue. It marked the stock’s worst single-day performance since April. Other chip manufacturers, including Broadcom, Lam Research, Western Digital, and Applied Materials, also experienced declines.
The impact extended to companies closely linked to Nvidia. SK Hynix, a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory to Nvidia, dropped over 2%. Samsung Electronics, a long-standing Nvidia partner, was down 0.69%. SoftBank Group, a significant investor in AI companies, declined by more than 3%.
The fluctuations come amid growing anticipation of AI expansion. Recent reports indicate Japan’s AI demand is expected to increase 320-fold by 2030, according to industry leaders at NVIDIA AI Day Tokyo.
The market reaction highlights the delicate balance between enthusiasm for AI’s potential and concerns about valuations, particularly after a period of rapid growth for tech stocks.