Investing.com– Most Asian stocks rose on Tuesday as regional tech shares followed overnight gains on Wall Street, while Chinese markets lagged after the US blacklisted two major tech companies.
Regional markets received positive signs from a strong overnight session on Wall Street, while tech stocks bounced back from a weak start to the year. Artificial intelligence darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: ) was a standout performer, hitting a record in anticipation of CEO Jensen Huang’s address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
US stock index futures were mildly positive in Asian trade, with the focus on key data due later in the week.
But despite Tuesday’s gains, most Asian markets continued to have a weak start to 2025, amid ongoing concerns that US interest rates will remain high for much longer.
Asian tech shares follow US gains; Nvidia in focus
Tech-rich bourses were the best performers in Asia on Tuesday, with Japan’s index rising 2.4% and South Korea’s index adding 0.9%.
The Japanese index rose 1 percent.
Tech stocks rallied to trail their U.S. peers, boosted by a mix of artificial intelligence hype as well as some bargain-hunting after losses through December.
Nvidia’s Huang is expected to provide more details about the company’s upcoming Blackwell AI chips, while any comments on AI demand will also be closely watched.
Artificial intelligence has been a key support point for the tech sector over the past year, with chipmakers benefiting from increased capital spending in the sector while software companies raced to provide their own AI offerings.
Chinese stocks lag behind Tencent, CATL added to US blacklist
Chinese and indices moved in a narrow range, while Hong Kong g fell 0.5%.
The Hang Seng was mainly affected by losses in internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK: ) and Tesla (NASDAQ: ) battery supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (SZ: ), which lost over 5%.
Two companies have been added to the US blacklist of companies linked to the Chinese military. Although the blacklisting does not imply any direct restrictions on the companies, it poses obstacles in doing business with US companies, which are the main market for both Tencent and CATL.
The new additions to the blacklist have also raised concerns about deteriorating trade ties between the world’s biggest economies, which will worsen due to increased trade tariffs under incoming US President Donald Trump.
On Monday, Trump denied reports that his administration would impose less severe trade tariffs than initially signaled.
A resurgence of the trade war is bad for China and other Asian economies.
Broader Asian markets were mostly positive. Australia added 0.2%, while Singapore’s index rose 0.1%.
for the Indian index showed a slightly positive opening, after the index fell 1.6% on Monday. Weak earnings from index heavyweights HDFC Bank Ltd (NS:) i Dabur India Ltd. (NS:) dented sentiment, especially ahead of higher earnings from major Indian companies, due in the coming days.
