Asian equities mixed as U.S. stocks hit records; Nvidia-OpenAI tie fuels gains
Markets in Asia trade mixed after the U.S. rally, with investors weighing AI deals, corporate mergers and the Federal Reserve’s rate-cut outlook.
Asian shares were mixed Tuesday as U.S. stocks extended a rally to fresh records, though trading in Tokyo was closed for a national holiday. In regional markets, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 8,861.10, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3% to 3,479.23, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.8% to 26,125.56 and China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 1.0% to 3,788.66.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% after erasing an early loss; the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 66 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite advanced 0.7%, marking a third straight day of all-time highs. Nvidia was the standout contributor, rising 3.9% after announcing a partnership to train and run OpenAI’s next generation of artificial-intelligence models, with Nvidia investing up to $100 billion in OpenAI. Oracle also helped lift sentiment, climbing 6.3% amid a deal-related development involving TikTok's U.S. operations. A senior official in the Trump administration said Oracle would receive a copy of TikTok's algorithm to operate in the United States as part of the agreement. Oracle also named Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as its CEOs, with current CEO Safra Catz moving to executive vice chair of the board.
Deal activity extended gains: Pfizer said it would acquire Metsera and its obesity-focused pipeline in a deal valued at about $4.9 billion; Metsera’s stock jumped 60.7% while Pfizer rose marginally. Atlas Holdings agreed to buy Office Depot and Office Max owner ODP for roughly $1 billion, sending ODP up 32.9%.
Stock gains have persisted since April on hopes tariffs will not derail global trade and on expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates to bolster the economy. The Fed delivered its first rate cut of the year last week, with officials signaling more reductions could follow into year-end and next year. Investors will get an update Friday on inflation using the Fed’s preferred measure, with economists projecting a slight acceleration from the prior month.
Bond yields were little changed, with the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.14%. In energy trading, U.S. crude slipped 4 cents to $62.64 a barrel, while Brent crude fell 40 cents to $66.17. The dollar rose to 147.79 Japanese yen from 147.74, and the euro traded at $1.1803.