Business & Finance

Asian Markets Rise as Tech Rally Rebounds After US Midterm Shock

By John Power

Asian stock markets rebounded on Monday after a sharp tech sell‑off triggered by the Democratic Party’s sweeping victory in the US midterm elections. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 3.45 percent as of 04:00 GMT, Taiwan’s Taiex rose 5.72 percent, South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.68 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.19 percent. Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were up 0.60 percent and 0.59 percent, respectively, after earlier declines linked to Nvidia’s announcement that it would investigate its CEO over a romantic relationship with a woman accused of being a Chinese spy. Nvidia’s board said it had confidence in CEO Jensen Huang, would conduct an independent inquiry into “all available information,” and pledged full cooperation. The board emphasized that protecting U.S. national and economic security is paramount to NVIDIA and its shareholders. The tech rout followed a $2.5 trillion sell‑off on Wall Street on Thursday, driven by concerns that Democratic‑controlled legislatures could slow the rollout of data centres used to power AI. The rout spilled into Asia on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 and Kospi falling about 6 percent and 9 percent, respectively, and the Hang Seng Index dropping more than 1 percent.