Asian stocks mixed as CoreWeave lifts chipmakers; hot U.S. inflation weighs

Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday as semiconductor shares rallied in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, while Hong Kong and Chinese technology stocks came under pressure.

Strong earnings from CoreWeave supported the AI trade, but hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation revived concerns over further Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose as much as 0.8%, extending a recovery that had delivered its strongest two-day advance in more than three months.

Technology shares led the gains, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 1.2% and S&P 500 futures added 0.6%, recovering losses in the underlying Nasdaq 100 during regular U.S. trading.

South Korea's KOSPI gained 1.8%, Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 1.2% and the TOPIX rose 0.8%. South Korean chipmakers led gains, with SK Hynix climbing 3.6%, LG Innotek rising 3.6% and Samsung Electronics adding 2.4%.

In Japan, TDK gained 3.43%, Kioxia advanced 2.99% and Murata Manufacturing rose 2.65%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing gained 2.63%, while Largan Precision added 2.96%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9%, while the CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2%, each. Chinese technology losses were led by NetEase, down 2.6%, MiniMax, which fell 2.6%, and Meituan, which declined 2%. CXMT slipped 0.2%, while SMIC edged up 0.1%.

CoreWeave lifts AI optimism, but inflation revives rate concerns

CoreWeave shares rose around 2% in late U.S. trading after the AI computing provider reported quarterly results above analyst estimates and raised its annual forecast, indicating that demand for computing capacity remains strong despite concerns about constraints across the data-centre industry.

Anticipation also grew around Anthropic's planned listing, with the company targeting a fully diluted valuation of $1.4 trillion.

The optimism was tempered by October U.S. inflation data. Consumer prices rose 0.4% month-on-month, while core CPI increased 0.3%, exceeding expectations for a third consecutive month.

Markets are now pricing in a quarter-point Fed rate increase in December, with some possibility of a larger move, and roughly three quarter-point hikes by June.

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said faster increases could be needed over the winter, while Governor Christopher Waller said a 50-basis-point move in December may be warranted.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee described the latest inflation report as disturbing. US cash Treasury trading is closed on Wednesday for a public holiday.

China tech weakness reflects more than the U.S. rate outlook

The pullback in Chinese and Hong Kong technology shares reflects the combination of higher US rate expectations and lingering concerns about AI valuations and competition.

Uncertainty over U.S.-China technology cooperation ahead of the November 18-19 Trump-Xi meeting have weighed, while losses in Meituan have been compounded by a broker downgrade.

SoftBank Group fell as much as 11% in Tokyo after reporting a ¥1.12 trillion ($7.1 billion) fiscal second-quarter loss, including a $3.7 billion writedown on its U.S. data-centre projects amid falling AI valuations.

Alibaba said its chip division, T-Head, had confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO. The company submitted its Form A1 application on September 11 after receiving exchange clearance to proceed with the proposed spin-off, which would give investors more direct exposure to one of Alibaba's core AI and semiconductor businesses. Alibaba shares nevertheless fell 1.3%.

Other regional benchmarks were mixed. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%, Singapore's STI gained 0.7%. India's Nifty and Sensex rose 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.