This is CNBC’s live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets rose Wednesday after Wall Street rose on the back of a tech rally, led by chipmaker Nvidia.
Shares in the artificial intelligence darling advanced nearly 3%, extending Monday’s gains and driving Nvidia’s market-cap past Microsoft‘s for the first time since January. Chip companies Broadcom and and Micron Technology rose more than 3% and 4%, respectively.
South Korean markets led gains in the region, resuming trade after opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was elected president.
The Kospi index popped 1.57% to hit a 10-month high, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 1.06%.
Over in Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 started the day 0.83% higher, while the broader Topix index moved up 0.47%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.54% in early trade. Economists polled by Reuters expect the country’s GDP for the first-quarter of 2025 — due later in the day — to rise 1.5% year on year, from 1.3% in the previous quarter.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 23,397, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s last close of 23,512.49.
U.S. futures were little changed after Wall Street rose on a tech rally and a better-than-expected jobs report showing that the U.S.’ labor market is holding up despite concerns of risks stemming from tariffs.
Overnight stateside, the broad-based S&P 500 index added 0.58% to close at 5,970.37, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 214.16 points, or 0.51%, ending at 42,519.64. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.81% and settled at 19,398.96.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
South Korea’s inflation slows to its weakest in five months
South Korea’s consumer price index for May fell 0.1% from the month before and slowed to 1.9% year-over-year, data released by Statistics Korea showed Wednesday.
This marks its weakest pace of increase since December 2024 after rising 2.1% in April, and lower than the median forecast of 2.1% in a Reuters poll of economists.
This follows the Bank of Korea’s decision to lower interest rates last week for the fourth time in its current easing cycle, to support an economic recovery clouded by U.S. tariffs.
— Amala Balakrishner
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