Global equities climb as AI-related stocks lead gains in US and Asia
Major US indexes and Asian markets rose on Tuesday, driven by strong performance of AI-focused technology companies.
U.S. equity markets advanced on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite up 1.18 percent, the S&P 500 gaining 0.6 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edging higher by 0.03 percent. Five of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks posted gains, led by Tesla, which rose 4.04 percent. Amazon added 1.61 percent, while Apple and Alphabet each climbed about 0.9 percent. Nvidia, the world’s most valuable public company, increased nearly 1 percent after announcing a $3 billion investment in Meta’s equity offering. Meta fell 1.64 percent and Microsoft slipped 0.24 percent.
In the Asia-Pacific region, markets followed Wall Street’s upward trend. South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 6.63 percent after SK Hynix reported a 630 percent year-on-year rise in operating profit, sending its shares up 10.89 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.08 percent higher, Taiwan’s TAIEX rose 2.04 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.33 percent near the close.
“A rally in a host of AI-related stocks including CoreWeave, Western Digital and Super Micro Computing implies that investors aren’t over the AI craze yet,” Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell in London, told Al Jazeera. “These stocks have become a litmus test for market mood. They typically fall when investors worry the AI story might be losing steam, and they rise when sentiment is strong around the technological revolution.”
Coatsworth added that the market’s direction remains uncertain, noting that the recent rise could represent either the start of a sustained AI rally or a short-term bounce after a period of skepticism. Investors are awaiting earnings reports from major tech firms, with Microsoft and Alphabet scheduled to report on Wednesday, Amazon on Thursday and Apple on the following Monday.
Anthropic, an AI company, filed paperwork for an initial public offering, reporting a net loss of $80.7 billion in the first half of 2026 on $16.3 billion in revenue. Analysts continue to monitor AI spending, which Gartner projects will reach $2.7 trillion in 2026 and $3.6 trillion in 2027.
Oil prices, elevated since the start of the U.S.–Israel conflict with Iran, rose nearly 2 percent, with Brent crude futures topping $116 a barrel, more than 60 percent above pre-war levels.