When a handful of chipmakers move, entire trading floors notice. Tuesday’s session across Asia felt that effect: a fresh burst of AI enthusiasm pushed equities higher, safe-haven gold climbed, and currency desks stayed glued to the yen after Tokyo signalled it would not hesitate to act.
Nvidia and the AI trade take center stage
The mood was driven by tech names tied to artificial intelligence. Nvidia nudged markets higher after reports the company is eyeing shipments of its H200 data‑center chips to China by mid‑February, a development that sent suppliers and memory players racing upward. Micron added roughly 4% and Oracle gained more than 3% in the region, reflecting spillover from overnight gains on Wall Street where AI optimism lifted the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq.
That lift showed up in broad indexes: Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped about 1.1% (closing near 8,795.7), South Korea’s Kospi extended gains to three days, and Japan’s Nikkei edged slightly higher. Hong Kong bucked the tide late in the day, finishing marginally lower as commodity and basic‑materials names lagged.
This AI‑led move feeds a longer thread: markets are increasingly sensitive to technology firms’ supply and export plans, and to how geopolitical frictions shape where cutting‑edge silicon ends up. For readers tracking how AI is being stitched into products and services, Google’s expanding research tools are a reminder of the trend; Gemini’s Deep Research and recent model launches from other big vendors underline why investors keep a close eye on chipmakers and cloud suppliers. Even Microsoft’s new image model has investors thinking about the next wave of compute demand: Microsoft Unveils MAI-Image-1.
Yen volatility keeps policymakers in the spotlight
The currency story was louder than usual. The dollar briefly pushed the yen to multi‑week lows last week, touching around the 157.7 area before retracing. Tokyo officials — including Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama — were explicit: Japan has a “free hand” to act if the yen’s fall becomes disorderly. That comment kept traders on intervention watch, and the dollar‑yen pair traded back toward the mid‑156s on Tuesday.
Why it matters: a weak yen lifts the profits of exporters in local‑currency terms but can also fuel imported inflation and financial market noise. The Bank of Japan’s recent rate moves — it has been tightening from its decades‑long ultra‑easy setting — add a wrinkle: higher domestic rates alongside a weak currency complicate the policy mix and courts commentary about “speculative” moves versus fundamentals.
Gold, IPO pops and the holiday calendar
Precious metals also benefited from the crosscurrents. Gold climbed, extending its steady run as traders balanced equity optimism with concerns about policy direction and global growth. Silver outperformed on the day as well.
Hong Kong witnessed a pair of dramatic small‑cap debuts: QingSong Health Corporation and Nuobikan Artificial Intelligence Technology soared on their first day, jumping over 100% and several hundred percent respectively in thin trading — a reminder that IPO froth can still appear amid broader, more measured advances.
The week ahead is quiet by volume because U.S. markets are heading into a holiday‑shortened stretch. Still, a few data points could capture attention: updated U.S. GDP estimates, weekly jobless claims and a consumer confidence reading are due and could nudge sentiment in either direction.
What traders were pricing in
Shorter term, the market's moves suggest investors are balancing three forces: (1) steady demand expectations for AI compute, (2) the potential for Japanese FX intervention, and (3) a subdued macro calendar tempered by lingering inflation and growth questions. That mix explains why equities and gold moved together rather than in opposition — each asset was responding to different slices of the same macro picture.
If you trade or follow markets, watch how investor focus shifts between corporate news (chip shipments and cloud demand), central bank language, and risk flows into or out of safe havens. With AI narratives still driving headline gains, small supply signals from major chipmakers can have outsized market impact — and Tokyo’s readiness to step into currency markets means the next big yen move may be more about policy than economics.
This market was not a tidy rally or a panic sell‑off — it was a day of competing stories where tech optimism and currency caution shared the stage.