Asian stocks rebound after tech rout, Nvidia probe looms
Asian stock markets climbed on Monday, recovering from last week’s sharp losses. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 3.45 percent by 04:00 GMT, while Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 5.72 percent. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.68 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also advanced.
The rebound followed a Wall Street recovery on Friday. But S&P 500 futures were up 0.60 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures 0.59 percent, after dipping earlier on news from Nvidia. The chip giant said its board will investigate CEO Jensen Huang over a romantic relationship with a woman accused of being a Chinese spy. The board expressed confidence in Huang and said there’s no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. An independent inquiry will examine all available information; Huang supported it and pledged full cooperation. Last week, US midterm results triggered a $2.5 trillion sell-off on Wall Street, on concerns that Democratic-controlled legislatures could slow data centre rollouts for AI. The rout spilled into Asia, with the Nikkei plunging about 6 percent and the Kospi about 9 percent on Friday.
