Asian stocks rise, tech surges as Fed offers no surprises

Investing.com -- Most Asian stocks rose on Thursday as appetite for risk-driven markets was boosted by the Federal Reserve raising interest rates as expected and downplaying the prospect of a U.S. recession this year.

Technology stocks were among the best performers for the day, boosted by a positive outlook from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930), which flagged an improvement in chip demand through the second half of the year.

The Fed raised interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, and signaled that it may yet raise rates again, depending on the path of economic data.

But Chair Jerome Powell said that the bank no longer expects a U.S. recession, helping improve risk appetite after several days of uncertainty over the Fed’s outlook for the economy.

Asian tech leads gains, Chinese markets rise

Technology-heavy indexes rose sharply, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rising 1.6%, while South Korea’s KOSPI added 0.7%.

Samsung Electronics surged nearly 2% after the world’s largest memory chipmaker offered an upbeat outlook for the second half of 2023, helping traders look past a 95% decline in its second-quarter profit.

Samsung peer SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) rallied over 8%, while shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TW:2330) (NYSE:TSM), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, rose 0.5%.

China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.6%, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.5%, amid continued focus on when the Chinese government will roll out more economically supportive measures in the coming weeks.

Data released on Thursday indicated a slight recovery in industrial profits through June, although they still remained well below pre-COVID levels. Promises of more stimulus measures from Beijing boosted Chinese stocks this week.

Australia’s ASX 200 jumped 0.7% to a five-month high after weaker-than-expected inflation pushed up hopes for a pause in the Reserve Bank’s rate hike cycle.

Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a positive open for local stocks, following strong earnings and as heavyweight technology firms appeared set to track gains in their broader Asian peers.

Japanese stocks lag amid BOJ uncertainty

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3%, while the broader TOPIX was flat, with both indexes lagging strong gains in their Asian peers.

Focus was largely on a Bank of Japan meeting on Friday, with a majority of traders expecting the bank to maintain its ultra-loose policy.

But a small group of analysts warned that the BOJ could still offer a hawkish surprise by altering its yield curve control policy, which could unwind some of the monetary stimulus enjoyed by Japanese stocks for nearly a decade.