Asian markets: Tech-heavy bourses slip ahead of Nvidia results

BENGALURU: Jakarta stocks edged higher and the rupiah held steady on Wednesday after Bank Indonesia left its benchmark rate unchanged as expected, while equities in Taiwan and South Korea slipped ahead of Nvidia’s earnings.

The rupiah, up 0.3 percent before the decision, was little changed afterward, while the Jakarta Composite Index last traded up 0.4 percent.

Bank Indonesia kept its key interest rates unchanged for a second time, prioritising the transmission of earlier rate cuts as renewed rupiah weakness complicates its easing path. The currency is the worst-performing in emerging Asia this year, down 3.6 percent against the US dollar since January. The rate hold may have helped rein in rupiah weakness for now, with BI signalling the move was consistent with its near-term focus on currency stability, said Lloyd Chan, senior currency analyst at MUFG in Singapore.

Investors are now awaiting AI-darling Nvidia’s results later in the day, which happens to be a key test of sentiment at the heart of the AI boom that may set the next direction for markets.

Nvidia, which supplies graphics processing units, or GPUs, behind modern AI systems, has been a key driver of a global market rally that pushed equities to record highs and lifted stocks even loosely tied to the AI theme.

Stock markets in Taiwan and South Korea lost 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent respectively, with the latter dropping over 2.5 percent earlier in the session.

Losses in major tech stocks weighed, as Samsung Electronics dropped 3.3 percent and SK Hynix declined 4.2 percent. LG Energy Solution eased 3.3 percent.

“Nvidia’s earnings are a critical driver for tech-heavy Asian markets such as Taiwan and South Korea, where equity performance is closely linked to the global outlook for AI and chip demand,” Chan said.