Asia stocks rally on upbeat Nvidia earnings.
Asian stocks rallied sharply on Thursday as upbeat results from AI bellwether Nvidia reignited demand for technology shares, while Samsung Electronics surged after reaching a tentative wage deal with its union to avert a potential strike.
Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday before Nvidia’s results.
U.S. stock index futures traded near flatline levels after losses in early Asian hours.
KOSPI surges 8%, Samsung reaches deal to avert union strike
South Korea’s KOSPI surged 7.9% to 7,777.27 points in its strongest session in months.
Heavyweight Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) also advanced nearly 8% after the company and its labour union reached a last-minute tentative pay agreement, suspending plans for an 18-day strike involving nearly 48,000 workers.
The deal eased concerns over potential disruptions to global memory chip supplies amid booming AI demand.
Oil prices rise as Trump flags potential strikes against Iran.
Oil prices rose in Asian trade on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington was ready to strike Iran if the country did not agree to a peace deal.
But Trump also noted that he was willing to wait on more military action, having earlier flagged progress in negotiations with Tehran.
Separately, Iranian media reports showed the country was reviewing the latest U.S. response to its peace proposal.
Brent oil futures for July rose 0.6% to $105.61 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.8% to $94.77 a barrel by 01:01 ET (05:01 GMT).
Oil recovers from two days of losses on mixed Iran signals
Oil recovered from two days of losses, having fallen sharply on Wednesday after Trump flagged progress in talks with Iran.
Gold prices fall amid hawkish Fed signals.
Gold prices reversed course in Asian trade on Thursday, coming off recent gains after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s April meeting showed a hawkish tilt.
Mixed signals on the U.S.-Iran war also left markets uncertain, as Tehran said it was reviewing Washington’s latest position on a peace deal. But U.S. President Donald Trump also
Spot gold fell 0.4% to $4,526.48 an ounce by 01:42 ET (05:42 GMT), while gold futures fell 0.4% to $4,526.50/oz.
Gold pressured by hawkish Fed signals
Gold came under pressure after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s late-April meeting showed an increasing number of policymakers considering interest rate hikes in the face of rising inflation.
A majority of Fed officials signaled openness to “some policy firming” if inflation remained steadily above the central bank’s 2% annual target, the minutes showed.
Inflation rose sharply over the past two months, driven chiefly by higher energy prices stemming from the Iran war.
The inflation spike spurred increased speculation over potential rate hikes by the Fed, also sparking a surge in bond yields.
This trend was a major point of pressure on gold, given that higher rates and yields increase the opportunity cost of investing in non-yielding assets.
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