Karla Barker 
Asian equities moved higher on Monday, recovering some of last week’s sharp losses after Wall Street bounced. The mood was not fully calm, though. Investors are still watching Nvidia after news of an internal inquiry tied to CEO Jensen Huang, and that kept risk appetite in check.
Taiwan Leads Regional Rebound
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 5.33%, the strongest move in the region. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 3.45%, while the broader Topix opened 2.82% higher. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.68%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.19%, and MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index outside Japan rose 0.8%. That only partly repairs last week’s 4.6% drop for the regional gauge.
The bounce follows a rough Friday. The Kospi fell about 9%, the Nikkei lost roughly 6%, and the Hang Seng dropped more than 1%. The sell-off followed a $2.5 trillion slide on Wall Street. Investors had sold tech shares on fears that Democratic control of Congress after the US midterms could slow data-centre build-outs tied to artificial intelligence. Perhaps those fears were overdone, but the reaction was severe. Taiwan’s benchmark had its heaviest weekly fall in two decades, and Japanese and Taiwanese shares slipped into technical bear markets.
Wall Street Cues and China Data
US stocks recovered on Friday as worries about tighter AI rules eased. A US semiconductor index jumped 4.2%, with Nvidia up 3% and Micron up 5%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were about 0.6% higher on Monday after an earlier dip. China publishes consumer and producer price figures later on Monday. Bloomberg Economics estimates that higher energy costs may have lifted October inflation. That reading will matter for investors looking for signs of health in the world’s second-largest economy.
Nvidia Inquiry and Other Markets
The earlier dip came after Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation into Huang’s relationship with a woman accused of being a Chinese spy. The board said it has confidence in Huang and no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. Huang has admitted the affair and said he let down his family, colleagues and shareholders. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is also reportedly weighing advanced memory chip production.
Brent crude traded near $97 a barrel after losing more than 16% last week, its steepest weekly drop since April 2020. US crude hovered around $90. President Donald Trump said further strikes on Iran are highly unlikely if talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme and reopening the Strait of Hormuz progress. The yen fell 0.1% to 158.26 per dollar, and the offshore yuan held near 6.6708. India’s GIFT Nifty pointed to a muted open, with markets closed on Tuesday for Diwali.
Bitcoin’s heaviest trading since 2024 has clustered near $80,000, a level Mike McGlone said could act as a ceiling this month. He said the token’s failure to stay above that level after the US midterms may be a warning for other risk assets. Bitcoin was trading at $74,500.