Asia stocks dip as Nvidia brings little cheer; India in focus amid Adani scandal
— Most Asian stocks fell on Thursday as earnings from market major Nvidia provided middling cues, while Indian markets were squarely in focus after the U.S. accused conglomerate Adani of corruption.
Regional markets took few cues from a muted overnight session on Wall Street, as caution over NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:
NVDA
) kept investors to the sidelines. But U.S. stock index futures sank in Asian trade, tracking an over 1% aftermarket drop in Nvidia.
Heightened tensions over Russia and Ukraine also kept overall risk appetite limited.
Asia tech skittish as Nvidia offers mixed signals
Technology-heavy Asian bourses mostly fell on Thursday, although stocks with direct exposure to Nvidia were a mixed bag as its results offered differing cues. The
TOPIX
index shed 0.3%.
The world’s most valuable listed company clocked stronger than expected earnings in the September quarter. But its guidance for the current quarter just barely scraped past expectations, pointing to slowing revenue growth and sparking some fears that artificial intelligence demand had potentially peaked.
Japan’s
Nikkei 225
index shed 0.7%, with chip stocks
Advantest Corp.
(TYO:
6857
) and
Tokyo Electron Ltd.
(TYO:
8035
)n both losing ground.
South Korea’s
KOSPI
rose 0.2%, buoyed by small gains in Nvidia supplier
SK Hynix Inc
(KS:
000660
), which said it had begun production of advanced flash memory chips. Peer
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
(KS:
005930
) rose 0.5%.
Taiwan shares of TSMC (TW:
2330
) (NYSE:
TSM
)- the world’s biggest contract chipmaker and a major Nvidia supplier- fell 1%, while those of
Hon Hai
Precision Industry Co Ltd (TW:
2317
), also known as
Foxconn
(SS:
601138
), lost nearly 2%.
Nvidia is considered as a bellwether for AI demand, with its underwhelming guidance sparking some concerns that tech valuations had overestimated just how much of an earnings driver the industry will remain.
Weakness in Asian tech spilled over into other sectors. Hong Kong’s
Hang Seng
index shed 0.2%, with shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (HK:
0981
), China’s biggest chipmaker, trading sideways.
China’s
Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300
and
Shanghai Composite
indexes fell around 0.3% each, while Australia’s
ASX 200
fell 0.1%.
Indian stocks head for weak open on Adani charges
Futures
for India’s
Nifty 50
index pointed to a weak open on Thursday, with shares of firms under Adani expected to tumble after a U.S. court accused Chairman Gautam Adani of an over $250 million bribery scheme.
Shares of listed companies under the conglomerate- most notably
Adani Enterprises
Ltd (NS:
ADEL
) and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (NS:
APSE
)- are set to tumble when markets open on Thursday, given the U.S. allegations echo those leveled by short seller Hindenburg Research in early-2023. Adani shares had lost more than $100 billion in a matter of days after the Hindenburg report, although they have since recouped these losses.
Multiple media reports said
Adani Green Energy
Ltd (NS:
ADNA
) had also scrapped a planned bond issuance in the wake of the allegations.
Weakness in Adani is expected to drive down broader Indian stocks, which were already nursing steep losses over the past month as foreign investors withdrew from the country. The Nifty was in correction territory after sinking more than 10% from its September record highs, and hit a five-month low on Wednesday.
