Asian Equities Rebound Though Sentiment Remains Fragile

By Sherry Qin

Asian equities were broadly higher Monday morning following last week's rout in artificial-intelligence stocks, though sentiment remains fragile after Nvidia initiated an investigation into Chief Executive Jensen Huang's relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.

Markets have calmed somewhat after initial shocks regarding concerns that a Democrat-led U.S. Congress could slow AI data-center expansion. "The AI Revolution is coming one way or another," said Yorkville Ives analysts in a note, adding that markets grew overly pessimistic on the AI buildout last week.

The U.S. and China tech rivalry could be another engine driving continued AI infrastructure investment, analysts said.

"Remember, China will take any Data Center that we don't want, and pay lots of money for it," President Trump posed on Truth Social on Sunday.

However, Nvidia's latest probe into Huang threatens to destablize an already highly sensitive AI sector. This will likely spark multiple congressional inquiries at a minimum and create an overhang on the stock, said Yorkville Ives analysts. Whether Huang remains CEO is the critical question for investors, they noted.

The brutal stock losses last week prompted both South Korean and Taiwanese authorities to intervene to stem losses in local equities.

South Korea's Kospi was recently 0.4% higher, with SK Hynix up 0.3% and Samsung Electronics rising 0.4%. Taiwan's Taiex advanced 3.1% after tumbling more than 4% on Friday. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 1.3%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.0%. Markets in Singapore and Malaysia were closed Monday for a holiday.

Oil prices fell after President Trump told CNN in an interview that renewed strikes were "highly unlikely" as long as there was progress in negotiations regarding Tehran's nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there has been no progress in talks with the U.S. and that Tehran is waiting to see if Washington's position shifts after the midterms.

The fact that supply and demand dynamics in the oil market have not materially changed in the past week means that the fall in oil prices largely reflects the risk premium narrowing, said Hamad Hussain, economist at Capital Economics.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate futures was down 0.4% at $90.42 a barrel, while front-month Brent futures were 0.9% lower at $97.49 a barrel.

Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 08, 2026 21:29 ET (02:29 GMT)