Shares in Asia recovered on Monday from a tech-driven slump that followed the Democratic Party’s sweeping win in the US midterm elections. Key indexes in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong posted solid gains, tracking a rebound on Wall Street on Friday.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 3.45 percent as of 04:00 GMT. Taiwan’s Taiex surged 5.72 percent, while Seoul’s Kospi rose 1.68 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.19 percent.
Nvidia CEO probe weighs on US futures
US futures for the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 0.60 and 0.59 percent, respectively, after dipping earlier. The dip followed chip giant Nvidia’s announcement that it would investigate CEO Jensen Huang over a romantic relationship with a woman accused of being a Chinese spy.
Also read: US stocks slide as AI shares plunge after midterm vote · Nvidia investigates CEO Jensen Huang over affair allegations
Nvidia’s board said it had confidence in Huang and had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. An independent inquiry would examine “all available information,” and the board said Huang supported the review and pledged his full cooperation.
The company said its board places US national and economic security first, describing it as paramount to Nvidia and its shareholders.
Wall Street sell-off and Asia’s tech rout
The rebound followed a $2.5 trillion sell-off on Wall Street on Thursday, which came after the US midterm results. The drop was driven by concerns that Democratic-controlled legislatures could slow the rollout of data centres used to power AI.
The tech rout spread to Asia on Friday, when the Nikkei 225 fell about 6 percent and the Kospi plunged roughly 9 percent. The Hang Seng Index dropped more than 1 percent.
