Asian stocks hit two-week high, led by S.Korea, Taiwan on AI trade revival

(.) Indonesian assets under pressure before BI decision Taiwan shares scale record high Korean won leads regional FX gain EM Asia stocks hit two-week high By Rajasik Mukherjee Sept 22 (Reuters) — South Korean and Taiwanese stocks led gains in Asian equities on Tuesday, as investors returned to AI-linked trades following an overnight rally in US chipmakers and technology stocks on signs that spending on the fast-growing sector remains resilient. The MSCI EM Asia equities index gained 1.7%, hitting its highest since September 8. Shares in Taiwan rose as much as 1.9% to notch a record high and were on track for a fifth straight session of gains.

South Korea's KOSPI gained as much as 2.3%, hitting its highest since September 8. Sentiment toward AI stocks improved after last week's sharp selloff, with investors looking past recent industry warnings and focusing instead on signs of robust corporate AI spending, reinforcing expectations for sustained demand for advanced chips and computing infrastructure. The rebound in US chipmakers and AI-linked heavyweights overnight, coupled with easing oil prices and lower Treasury yields, helped revive appetite for technology shares across Asia's export-oriented markets.

"Last night's session saw the markets homing in on the glass-half-full thesis founded upon the AI trade, as geopolitical risks diminished at the margins," said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at Capital.com. "The most meaningful appears to be the release of Meta’s new AI chatbot, which has been met with strong demand and resurfaced optimism about the growth outlook for the so-called AI trade." Gains spread beyond North Asia, with Singapore stocks up 0.5%, while shares in Thailand rose 0.7%. Indonesian stocks fell 1%, hitting their lowest since August 14, a day ahead of Bank Indonesia's policy decision.

A Reuters poll showed BI is expected to hold its key interest rate steady at 5.75%, as recent rupiah stability and subdued inflation give policymakers room to pause. "The rupiah has appreciated against the US dollar since early August, although it has given back some gains over the past week amid renewed oil price pressures and a more hawkish Fed outlook," Goldman Sachs said in a note. "With FX conditions nonetheless more stable, we think policymakers will prefer to preserve optionality for now and hope for the best, rather than tighten pre-emptively." The rupiah depreciated as much as 0.4%, hitting its lowest since August 7.

Currencies in Asia painted a more constructive picture, with most strengthening against the dollar. An MSCI gauge of emerging markets currencies rose 0.3%, hitting its highest since September 8. The South Korean won rose more than 1% to log its biggest intraday percentage gain since early September, while the Taiwan dollar gained 0.2%. Elsewhere, Vietnamese leader To Lam said there had been positive negotiations on a trade agreement with the United States, and a deal could be signed soon.

Stocks in the country gained 0.8%.

Highlights: * EU and Philippines reach 'substantial agreement' on free-trade deal * Bank of Korea to assess inflation, growth for rate hikes, board member says * Houthis push for control of Yemen highlands as Trump is said to have called off strikes Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0422 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % % DAILY YTD % % Japan -0.05 -0.50 — 29.16 China India Indonesia -0.22 -6.69 -1.19 -27.04 Malaysia +0.05 -0.42 0.68 -0.11 Philippine +0.09 -6.16 -0.21 -3.65 s S.Korea +1.20 +5.99 1.82 69.31 Singapore +0.07 +0.80 0.44 22.68 Taiwan Thailand Graphic: World FX rates Asian stock markets (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) ((Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com)