Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed as auto and tech stocks rose after Nvidia announced robust revenue forecast for its key chips, and partnerships with carmakers from the region.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 50.36 points, or 0.1%, to 53,700.39.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 34.52 points, or 0.1%, to 23,868.54.
Memory maker Samsung Electronics, a decades-old partner of Nvidia gained 2.76%. Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker and manufacturer of Nvidia’s advanced AI GPUs, rose 1.36%.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he expects purchase orders between Blackwell and Vera Rubin chips to reach $1 trillion through 2027 at Nvidia’s annual developer conference on Monday.
SK Hynix, however, reversed course to drop 0.41%.
Shares of automakers Hyundai Motor, Nissan Motor and Isuzu, as well as China’s BYD and Geely rose after Nvidia announced it was partnering with these companies for its autonomous vehicle development business.
Hyundai Motor advanced 3.16%, while Nissan Motor and Isuzu rose over 1.19% and 1.43%, respectively. BYD added 1.18% and Geely gained 4.61%.
Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised benchmark policy rates for a second straight time to 4.1%. The 25-basis-point hike was in line with expectations from analysts polled by Reuters, and comes as Australia’s inflation stays above the central bank’s upper limit of 3%.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 shed 34.12 points, or 0.7%, to 4,637.44.
Investors also assessed Iran war developments, with U.S. President Donald Trump looking to delay his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping by “a month or so” due to the Middle East conflict. Trump was expected to travel to China at the end of March.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index added 90.63 points, or 1.6%, to 5,640.48.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index took on 67.28 points, or 1.4%, to 4,935.47.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index sprinted ahead 494.06 points, or 1.5%, to 33,836.57.
In Australia, the ASX recovered 30.9 points, or 0.4%, to 8,714.28.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 forged ahead 17.65 points, or 0.1%, to 13.182.23.
