Asia stocks join Wall Street records as tech bull run quickens

HONG KONG - Asian stock markets surged Wednesday morning, matching record gains on Wall Street the previous day as investor confidence in AI tech and coming interest rate cuts in the United States reaches fever pitch.

The extended bull run comes ahead of a Wednesday afternoon announcement by the US Federal Reserve, which observers expect will unveil a quarter-percentage-point cut to lending rates.

It also has been boosted by growing faith in a deal to avoid a damaging trade war between the world's top two economies, with US President Donald Trump due to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Trump - who arrived in the country Wednesday following visits to Malaysia and Japan - has hinted that he is confident in reaching an agreement with Xi.

Those hopes have added to an already jubilant atmosphere on Wall Street, where highlights during Tuesday's record-breaking day included a five-percent leap for artificial intelligence giant Nvidia.

There has been "little sign of concern about holding tech risk into the upcoming Fed meeting, which in theory should be a lower-impact event on markets,"wrote Chris Weston of Pepperstone in a note.

"It's the tech show, and this is where capital remains firmly centred," he said.

Japan's benchmark index leapt by more than two percent on Wednesday morning, while Seoul surged more than one percent -- both reaching record highs.

Shares in Taipei and Shanghai tracked moderate gains.

Sydney's main index was down Wednesday, while Hong Kong was closed for a public holiday.

The record streaks have picked up pace ahead of expected earnings reports in the coming days by major US tech giants, including Microsoft and Meta.

This year's AI boom has coincided with a global tariff onslaught unleashed by the US president, with policies hitting China particularly hard.

Ahead of his arrival in South Korea, Trump told reporters on Air Force One he expects "a lot of problems are going to be solved" during his first in-person discussion with Xi sincereturning to the White House this year.

The two leaders are expected to meet Thursday on the sidelines of the APEC summit taking place in the city of Gyeongju.

Key figures at around 0230 GMT

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.0 percent at 51,234.49

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,992.49

West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $60.15 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $64.43 per barrel

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1643 from $1.1656 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3261 from $1.3336

Dollar/yen: UP at 152.11 yen from 152.06 yen

Euro/pound: FLAT at 87.80 from 87.80 pence

New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 47,706.37 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 9,696.74 (close)