By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Asian shares were aiming for a sixth session of gains on Wednesday as signs of consumer demand for AI apps continued to buoy tech stocks, while oil prices faltered on reports of increased supply out of the Middle East.
Sources told Reuters Saudi Arabia had restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline and may have already resumed exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
US President Donald Trump also claimed talks with Iran in New York had made progress, but then threatened to “annihilate” the country if a deal was not done.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the UN General Assembly later on Wednesday and markets are alive to reports he might hold talks with Trump.
Brent futures eased 0.1% to $99.18 a barrel, while US crude fell 0.4% to $90.14 a barrel. [O/R]
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington later in the day amid speculation a trade truce between the two countries will be extended, and there could be cooperation over AI.
Renewed buzz over AI helped South Korean stocks gain 1.2%, with Samsung and SK Hynix both up over 2%. Taiwan firmed 0.9%, to near all-time peaks.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.7%, having now risen for six straight days. Chinese blue chips were little changed.
Japanese markets were closed for a holiday, but Nikkei futures were trading at 66,745, almost 2,000 points above where the cash Nikkei closed on Friday.
“We expect a strong reopening in Japan tomorrow, with another move lower in crude, calm conditions in rates and Treasuries, and the Nasdaq cash and futures markets printing all-time highs,” said Chris Weston, head of research at broker Pepperstone.
“Memory stocks have taken the leadership baton, backed by another strong session for semi’s, which have recorded a sixth consecutive day of gains.”
CONSUMERS FALL FOR AI AGENTS
The data hardware sector has been buoyed by strong consumer take up of Meta’s Muse agent, which has topped US app download charts in the past two weeks.
Analysts are now keen to see how a similar product from Google Labs known as CC will fare with consumers.
On Wall Street, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were both holding steady. In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures and DAX futures added 0.3%, while FTSE futures gained 0.2%.
The dip in oil helped Treasury futures nudge higher, keeping 10-year yields below the 5.0% pain barrier.
However, two-year yields had again hit their highest since mid-2024 at 4.7879% as investors priced in the risk of more tightening from the Federal Reserve.
