By Rae Wee
SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Asian stocks advanced on Thursday after upbeat earnings from Nvidia soothed concerns over AI-driven disruption and rising costs, while the yen was in the doldrums, bogged down by a murky rate outlook in Japan.
Lingering worries about escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran meanwhile kept oil prices elevated, ahead of a third round of talks between the two countries later on Thursday.
Nvidia on Wednesday forecast first-quarter revenue above
market estimates, betting on Big Tech's unabated spending on its AI processors.
The result, which had been closely watched by investors, quelled some fears about the massive spending companies are pouring into all things AI.
That helped propel Japan's Nikkei to a record high early in the session, while South Korea's KOSPI was up 2%.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7%.
"Nvidia's print was strong enough to keep the AI capex cycle alive. The immediate market reaction is relief, translating into a modest risk-on tone after the AI-driven volatility of recent weeks," said Saxo's chief investment strategist Charu Chanana.
Traders have blown hot and cold on the AI trade in recent weeks, worried about returns on investment and the technology's potential to upend entire industries, yet hesitant to sit on the sidelines.
"The debate has been much less about stellar near-term results and more about the sustainability of AI capex spending given concerns around its quantum, monetisation and cashflow degradation," said Richard Clode, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors.
Shares of Nvidia initially jumped in extended trading after the results though later erased those gains, leaving Nasdaq futures down 0.25% and S&P 500 futures 0.14% lower.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures were up a marginal 0.06%.
WILL THEY, WON'T THEY?
In currencies, the yen was the main focus for investors, as it remained pinned near the two-week low it hit after Japan's government nominated two academics seen by markets as strong advocates of economic stimulus to join the central bank's board.
The surprise move was viewed in markets as a reflection of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's easy monetary policy preferences, throwing into question the outlook for further Bank of Japan (BOJ) rate hikes.
The yen was last 0.2% stronger at 156.01 per dollar, helped by a broadly weaker greenback on Thursday, but is down roughly 0.6% for the week thus far.
"Dovish-leaning BOJ nominees have reignited concerns the central bank may lag policy normalisation, weakening the JPY and steepening JGB curve," said strategists at OCBC in a note.
"Our end-2026 USD/JPY forecast stays at 149, as the currency is unlikely to transition from a funding currency to an investment currency unless the BOJ turns more hawkish than our baseline outlook of two rate hikes this year."
The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday that BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda left the door open to a near-term rate hike, lending some support to the currency.
The dollar was on the back foot, with the euro up 0.12% at $1.1824, while sterling rose 0.08% to $1.3570.
In oil markets, prices rose as jitters about the threat to supply from potential military conflict between the U.S. and Iran remained.
Brent crude futures were up 0.27% at $71.04 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 0.24% to $65.55 per barrel. [O/R]
Senior Trump administration officials on Wednesday made the case that Iran poses a major threat to the U.S. ahead of Thursday's negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program.
Spot gold was up 0.27% at $5,184.66 an ounce, buoyed by some safe-haven demand. [GOL/]
(Reporting by Rae WeeEditing by Shri Navaratnam)
