Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager overseeing roughly €2.4 trillion ($2.8 trillion) in assets, is making a straightforward bet: Asia’s AI-fueled stock rally isn’t done yet. The catch, and there’s always a catch, is that the Federal Reserve could spoil the party.
The firm’s global head of emerging markets strategy, Alessia Berardi, laid out the case on June 5. Strong earnings, reasonable valuations, and a sustained wave of capital expenditure from US tech giants are keeping the wind at Asia’s back. But if US interest-rate expectations shift meaningfully, the spending pipeline that feeds this entire trade could start to narrow.
The bull case for Asian tech
American hyperscalers, think Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta, are pouring enormous sums into AI infrastructure. Much of that money flows directly to Asian chipmakers and hardware manufacturers. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have posted record rallies as demand for memory chips and advanced semiconductors surges.
South Korean and Taiwanese technology firms sit at the center of the global AI supply chain. When US companies increase their AI capital expenditure budgets, orders for high-bandwidth memory, advanced packaging, and cutting-edge chips climb.
