Asian shares advance, Nvidia trims earlier gains

Asian stocks increased during open on Thursday post a bullish trading session on Wall Street, even though the optimism was capped by a lukewarm response to Nvidia's upbeat sales forecast.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.8%, while the Nvidia stock erased earlier gains in extended trading.

US equity-index futures also edged lower in early Asian trading after Nvidia failed to wow investors even with an upbeat forecast, signaling that concerns about an overheated AI economy will continue to dog the company.

In Wednesday’s trading, the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 1.4%. In other parts of the market, Treasuries fell across the curve and the dollar slipped. Precious metals whipsawed but remained in the green during Wednesday’s session. Bitcoin fell 1.5% to trade below $68,000.

Markets were counting on an optimistic outlook from the artificial intelligence bellwether to inject further vim into the AI trade and soothe concerns that a surge in valuations had outpaced fundamentals. By signaling the massive build-out of AI computing remains on track, Nvidia’s forecast could underpin earnings expectations across the semiconductor supply chain and provide a fresh boost for Asian chipmakers.

Markets were looking to Nvidia’s earnings to provide a sense of calm after heightened concerns recently. Though the average Wall Street estimate was $72.8 billion, some analysts had projected numbers approaching $80 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Investors have been so sensitive that a report from a little-known firm called Citrini Research outlining the potential AI risks to various industries — using hypothetical scenarios set in the future — jolted markets earlier this week. The disruptive potential of the technology has roiled stocks across sectors for weeks in what’s become known as the “AI scare trade.”

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is convening tech executives from firms including Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. at the White House next week to sign pledges committing their companies to foot the electricity bill for energy-hungry data centers.

Trump will also sign a directive in the coming days raising his global tariff to 15% “where appropriate” and is seeking “continuity” with nations that struck trade deals, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.

With inputs from Bloomberg

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