Asian Stocks Mixed as Market Weighs Anthropic's IPO While Watching Fed Meeting — Update

By Megan Cheah and Sherry Qin

Asian equities were mixed as investors weighed artificial-intelligence bellwether Anthropic's hotly-anticipated IPO filing ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week.

Anthropic has filed paperwork for a blockbuster initial public offering that could raise $100 billion or more and would value the company at $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The move buoyed tech stocks in the U.S., which pared some losses from a drawn-out selloff.

"While its [Anthropic's] revenue figures were already largely known to investors, the decision to proceed with an IPO filing amid recent volatility in the AI trade may itself be seen as a vote of confidence," Tiger Brokers chief market strategist James Ooi said in a note.

Unlike many debt-laden AI companies, Anthropic's substantial cash reserves also provided some reassurance about the industry's ability to sustain its infrastructure investments and support its expansion, Ooi added.

Still, analysts caution that its growth could slow. "With the expectations and valuation placed on Anthropic, there isn't much room for that growth curve to disappoint," eToro's Asia-Pacific lead analyst Josh Gilbert said, adding that any slowdown would eat into its margins and make its valuation harder to justify.

Nevertheless, Asia's AI infrastructure stocks were broadly higher on the news after their recent weakness. South Korea's memory giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics were up 6.2% and 4.5%, respectively. Japan's Tokyo Electron was up 2.8% and Advantest Corp. surged 9.0%.

The index heavyweights sent the Korea's Kospi up 3.5% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average 1.6% higher. China's Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index both slipped 0.1%.

Looking to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting that begins later Tuesday, markets broadly expect interest rates to be left unchanged, though a year-end hike remains possible.

"Investors should not mistake a pause for a pivot," Allianz Global Investors' Jenny Zeng said in a note, citing the U.S. economy's resilience to higher rates and reaccelerating inflation amid a tight labor market.

"Higher energy prices and strong AI-related investment add to the inflationary impulse. In our view, that leaves the Fed with more work to do," the chief investment officer of fixed income said. Allianz Global Investors expects a 25-basis-point rate increase in December, with further tightening likely in the first half of next year.

Oil prices fell as traders considered diplomatic efforts to ease U.S.-Iran hostilities.

Middle Eastern mediators have been seeking to revive negotiations between Washington and Tehran as the U.S. prepares additional military options against Iran, the Journal reported.

The diplomatic engagement between regional officials and Iran raised hopes of some easing of Middle East tensions, but continuing supply risks could limit oil's decline, said Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Harry Ottley. Continuing attacks in the region also maintained a sizable risk premium for crude, he added.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures dropped 1.0% to $100.77 a barrel, while front-month Brent fell 1.0% to $114.68 a barrel, ICE data showed.

Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2026 01:34 ET (05:34 GMT)