Asian Stocks Rebound, Nikkei Up 3.4%, but Can They Lead Wall Street?
Asian stocks rebounded Monday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 3.39% and South Korea’s KOSPI benchmark up 1.52%. Both had fallen about 6% Friday, reacting to a Nasdaq plunge rather than warning of one.
Nasdaq 100 futures traded 0.3% higher Sunday evening, CNBC reported. That gives US tech holders only a thin lead after Thursday’s rout.
Are Asian Stocks Leading Wall Street or Following It?
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened at 5,034.20, below Friday’s close of 5,059.69, and briefly slid under 5,000. However, it climbed to 5,136.46 by 11:07 a.m. Seoul time.
Meanwhile, the Nikkei reached 59,411, up 1,948.30 points. That erases just over half of Friday’s 3,643.13-point drop.
In contrast, KOSPI’s 1.52% gain covers about a quarter of its Friday drop of more than 6%, the WSJ reported.
Friday’s Asian market rout followed the US selloff rather than preceding it. The Nasdaq Composite had lost 5.5% on Thursday.
The Nasdaq Composite then gained 1.1% Friday, AP data showed, a move Monday’s Asian rebound appears to echo.
Can the Rebound Survive Tuesday’s Inflation Test?
CNBC reported that Nasdaq 100 futures first fell 0.8% Sunday night before turning higher. Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Schwab Center for Financial Research, called Nasdaq indexes oversold.
Meanwhile, the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) report lands Tuesday, with CoreWeave, Cisco and Applied Materials earnings due this week.
Fed funds futures implied roughly a 65% chance of a December rate hike on Thursday.
A hotter CPI reading could lift those odds and pressure growth stocks, while a cooler one would ease that pressure. Thursday’s selloff began with fears that Democratic midterm gains could slow AI data center construction, the WSJ reported.
Therefore, Asia’s chip-heavy benchmarks stay tied to US policy and inflation headlines, and Monday’s gains could fade quickly.