Asian Shares Advance, Yen Slips as AI Stocks Push Higher on Wall Street

Shares surged across Asia on Monday, and US futures rose after a rebound in AI-related stocks such as Nvidia sparked a rally on Wall Street.

Early Monday, the dollar bought 157.32 yen, compared with 157.60 late Friday.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.9% to 50,455.07, boosted by strong gains in chipmakers and other companies benefiting from the artificial intelligence boom, Elaine Kurtenbach reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Semiconductor manufacturer Tokyo Electron climbed 6.7%, while chip-testing equipment maker Advantest gained 4.7%.

Financial firms and exporters also advanced after the Bank of Japan raised its key policy rate to its highest level in 30 years. Contrary to expectations, the move failed to strengthen the Japanese yen, which instead slipped to near its lowest level of the year.

Early Monday, the dollar bought 157.32 yen, compared with 157.60 late Friday.

Heavy selling of the yen prompted Atsushi Mimura, a top Finance Ministry official overseeing foreign exchange, to warn that regulators would step in to curb excessive currency fluctuations.

Chinese markets posted moderate gains, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index up 0.2% at 25,751.93 and the Shanghai Composite rising 0.7% to 3,915.84.