Asian Stocks Gain to Shrug Off US Tech Concerns: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks advanced Tuesday to defy a mixed day on Wall Street as speculation gained that the tech sector rally may be running out of steam.

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Shares in Japan outperformed the region, climbing as much as 1.7%. Contracts for US equities edged higher in Asian trading after various US non-tech sectors climbed on Monday. Meanwhile, Nvidia, the chipmaker at the heart of the artificial-intelligence revolution, extended a three-day rout of about $430 billion — crossing the technical threshold of a correction.

In Asia, investors were seen to be rotating out of the technology sector into other parts of the market. They snatched up value stocks in Japan, such as financials, on growing expectation the nation’s central bank will tighten its policy.

Among currencies, the yen strengthened, but still hovered not far from the weakest level in about 34 years. The top currency official had warned that authorities stood ready to intervene if necessary, while some traders see the potential for the yen to slump as far as 170 per dollar. The greenback dipped against most of its Group-of-10 peers as Treasuries steadied in Asian trading.

“As we approach the quarter-end, global investors are rebalancing their portfolio, selling assets that have performed well recently and buying names that have lagged,” said Hideyuki Ishiguro, chief strategist at Nomura Asset Management Co. That’s likely to help support the broader Topix index, he said.

Chinese machinery stocks rose after President Xi Jinping urged scientists and researchers to enhance technological innovation with a greater sense of urgency, citing the dominance of other countries in certain key technologies. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Premier Li Qiang warned of negative consequences if nations parted ways economically, while hitting back at criticism that his nation’s industrial policy has led to overcapacity.

In other news, the US is investigating China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom over concerns the firms could exploit access to American data through their US cloud and internet businesses by providing it to Beijing, Reuters reports, citing three unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Following a tech-led rally, Deutsche Bank’s Binky Chadha said US equities are set to pause. There’s a lot of good news baked into markets, and if that optimism proves unjustified, there could be downside risks, Lori Calvasina at RBC Capital Markets noted. To John Stoltzfus at Oppenheimer, while the bull market appears sustainable, some profit-taking should be expected.

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“A decline in the tech sector is certainly possible, even if the sector is going to do well during the summer months overall,” Matt Maley at Miller Tabak noted. “Even if you agree with the most-bullish scenario for the AI phenomenon for the second half of 2024, no group moves in a straight line.”

In commodities, oil held gains as investors weighed the potential fallout from rising geopolitical tensions. Gold edged lower after closing higher in the previous session on a weaker US dollar, which boosted the appeal of commodities. Copper rose as investors mulled prospects…