Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, with chipmakers continuing to rally amid persistent optimism about artificial intelligence, even as crude oil climbed toward $100 a barrel and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Gulf renewed concerns about inflation and interest-rate risks.
The advance in semiconductors came despite a softer session on Wall Street the previous day, where worries that AI could disrupt traditional software businesses weighed on some technology names. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.3% in the U.S., and in Asian trading Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.2% while S&P 500 futures were largely unchanged.
Macro focus and policy risks
Markets are watching the U.S. consumer price index for Friday closely, given its potential influence on expectations for Federal Reserve policy ahead of the central bank's September 15-16 meeting. Futures markets currently assign roughly a 60% probability to a 25-basis-point rate increase at that meeting.
Those policy concerns have been compounded by a jump in oil prices as hostilities in the Gulf region intensified. Iran-backed Houthi forces have attacked cities in Saudi Arabia, U.S. forces have struck Iranian tankers, and Tehran warned crews near Kuwaiti and Bahraini piers to abandon their vessels while threatening further attacks on regional energy infrastructure. The result has pushed Brent crude more than 60% higher year to date and closer to the $100-a-barrel level for the first time since July.
Market movers across the region
Equity performance across Asian bourses diverged. South Korea's KOSPI advanced 1.5% and Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.14%. By contrast, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.2% while mainland China's CSI 300 added 0.1%.
- Semiconductor and related names outperformed: SK Hynix rose 3.6% and Samsung Electronics gained 0.8%. Kioxia added 0.6% and TDK climbed 1.86%.
- Other notable moves included Sony, which fell 0.74%, and Foxconn, which was essentially flat.
Across a broader sample of U.S. technology-linked tickers referenced in regional trading, Intel and Qualcomm saw notable gains after announcing an agreement with Amazon to develop custom AI chips, reinforcing an ongoing focus on AI infrastructure spending.
Economic readings and regional context
South Korea's economy grew 0.6% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, beating a 0.2% forecast, with semiconductor exports cited as a supporting factor for growth. Japan's GDP expanded at an annualized 1.4%, a result that came in below expectations, while real wages rose 2.4% in July, which has helped underpin speculation about a possible Bank of Japan policy move next week.
In China, headline inflation showed signs of acceleration as higher energy and metals prices fed through to the price complex. August consumer price inflation rose 0.8% year-on-year and 0.4% month-on-month, while producer prices climbed 3.8%. Core CPI increased by just 1%, a figure that points to persistent weakness in domestic demand despite stronger external demand.
Trade figures underpin that external reliance: exports jumped 25% in August and imports rose 28.2%, with high-tech exports up 42.9% in the first eight months of the year. Those trends highlight the growing importance of foreign demand and AI-related products to China's export mix.
Other regional moves and what investors are watching next
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% after a deterioration in consumer sentiment, Singapore's Straits Times fell 0.6%, and India's Nifty 50 decreased 0.5%.
Investors will also be paying attention to corporate results due on Thursday from Oracle and Adobe for further clues on AI-related infrastructure spending and whether the technology is beginning to unsettle established software business models.
Overall, the session underscored a bifurcated market - strong demand for semiconductor and AI infrastructure exposure on one side, and renewed inflation and policy concerns driven by higher energy prices and geopolitical tensions on the other.