Technology stocks powered Asian markets higher on Tuesday, as strong demand for Meta Platforms’ Muse AI assistant revived enthusiasm for artificial intelligence shares and easing oil prices improved risk appetite.
Lower oil prices have also improved sentiment. Brent crude traded around $101.72 a barrel early Tuesday, well below the near-$110 levels reached last week, as markets assess whether increased physical supply and diplomatic efforts can ease disruption from the Middle East.
MSCI’s broad Asia-Pacific index outside Japan rose 0.8% to a two-week high, while South Korea’s technology-heavy market climbed as much as 2% before paring gains. Taiwan shares reached a record high, while Chinese blue chips gained 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3%.
The rebound follows last week’s global technology sell-off, when warnings from leading AI executives about the risks of increasingly powerful models prompted investors to reduce exposure to the sector.
Sentiment reversed sharply after Meta’s Muse AI assistant climbed mobile app rankings following its launch, strengthening expectations that increasingly capable AI agents could drive further demand for chips, data centres and computing infrastructure.
Wall Street also rallied on Monday. The S&P 500 gained 1.5%, moving within 0.4% of its record high, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.3% to an all-time high as semiconductor and other AI-related stocks led the advance.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7%, or 366 points.
For investors, the sharp reversal illustrates how sensitive technology valuations remain to changes in expectations around AI adoption, computing demand and interest rates, with softer oil prices also helping ease immediate inflation concerns.
Sterling strengthened slightly to around $1.338, while gold fell to approximately $4,326 an ounce.
