Asian stocks rise as tech rallies before key earnings

Tech stocks also benefited from bargain hunting after clocking steep losses so far in April, following underwhelming earnings from major chipmakers and increased fears of higher-for-longer interest rates. 

This was especially prevalent in Wall Street over the past two sessions, which saw U.S. stock benchmarks surge tracking a rebound in tech. U.S. stock index futures rose in Asian trade on Wednesday. 

Asian tech rebounds, key US earnings awaited 

Tech-heavy bourses were the best performers in Asia on Wednesday, with Japan’s index up 2%, while South Korea’s rallied 1.9%. 

Gains in major internet stocks also put Hong Kong’s up 1.1%, helping it avoid broader weakness in Chinese markets.

Chinese electric vehicle stocks were marginally positive, tracking a bounce in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:) even as the carmaker clocked disappointing earnings and flagged accelerated plans to develop cheaper EV models- a trend that heralds more competition in the sector.

Regional tech stocks tracked a rebound in their U.S. peers ahead of earnings from some of the world’s biggest tech firms due in the coming days. Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:) will report its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, while giants Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:) will report their earnings on Thursday.

Buying into tech was fueled by growing hopes that positive earnings from the sector will justify the massive melt-up in valuations seen over the first quarter of 2024.