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Shares in Japan, South Korea and Australia opened higher, helping the MSCI Asia Pacific Index extend its gains for the third day.
By CNBCTV18.com February 25, 2026, 6:55:15 AM IST (Published)
2 Min Read
Asian shares opened higher post a tech rally lifted Wall Street benchmarks.
Shares in Japan, South Korea and Australia opened higher, helping the MSCI Asia Pacific Index extend its gains for the third day.
A rebound in the battered software stocks drove the Nasdaq 100 up 1.1%, while the S&P 500 also advanced, ahead of the key earnings from Nvidia Corp. on Wednesday. Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s deal with Meta Platforms Inc. also boosted sentiment.
The disruptive potential of artificial intelligence has roiled stocks across sectors for weeks in what’s become known as the AI scare trade. Tuesday’s rebound followed comments from Anthropic PBC, which said it plans to build partnerships — easing concerns that its Claude chatbot technology will integrate with, rather than displace, existing businesses.
Before Tuesday’s recovery, investors had been skittish for weeks on AI-related selloffs targeting a range of industries such as software, insurance brokerage, wealth management and cybersecurity, among others.
Earlier this week, concerns over tariffs and geopolitics coupled with a report by Citrini Research and worries about the potential disruption caused by another tool from Anthropic were enough to send the stock market careening.
While US stocks have been volatile, Asian markets have outperformed their global peers and largely avoided the tech volatility. The standout gainer was South Korea, which advanced as much as 1.2% to a record on Wednesday.
South Korea’s Kospi Index has gained about 43% this year and is the world’s best-performing stock market.
Elsewhere, the yen was steady in early trading, following declines on Tuesday as local media reported that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi voiced apprehension over more rate hikes in a meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda last week.
Still, the main risk event in the tech sector on Wednesday will be Nvidia’s earnings.
The company is facing a high-stakes moment with its latest quarterly results, with the world waiting for fresh evidence that the AI spending boom remains on track.
To satisfy investors, Nvidia likely needs to deliver another blockbuster report. That means easily topping the forecasts it gave three months ago and setting new targets that are above current Wall Street estimates. The company has done this repeatedly, but concerns have grown that the AI spending frenzy isn’t sustainable.
With inputs from Bloomberg
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