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July 31, 2026 - 01:26
5 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks looked set to rise after a rebound in chip shares fueled a Wall Street rally, reviving confidence in the artificial intelligence trade. The yen held onto its gains amid a report Japanese officials intervened to support the currency.Equity-index futures for Japan, South Korea and Australia pointed to gains after the S&P 500 rose 1.7% and the Nasdaq 100 climbed 3.4%. A gauge of chip stocks posted its biggest advance in more than a year, while futures contracts for the Wall Street benchmarks climbed in early Asian trading.Tech remained in focus with Apple Inc. dropping over 6% in extended trading as supply shortages hurt its sales forecast, while Amazon.com Inc. surged 9% after cloud-computing revenue accelerated for a fifth straight quarter. Earlier, Microsoft Corp. surged 16%, adding roughly $450 billion to its value, the most by any stock in a single day.In Asia, attention turns to the Bank of Japan after the yen posted its biggest gain against the dollar in more than two years in the previous session following another round of intervention by authorities. The central bank announces its policy decision Friday. The currency traded at 159.86 per dollar, having strengthened as much as 157.98 on Thursday.The rally on Wall Street offered a reprieve for technology stocks after the Nasdaq 100 Index logged six straight sessions of losses on concern that the billions of dollars being poured into artificial intelligence may not generate commensurate returns. With the Federal Reserve standing pat and bond yields climbing, traders are also assessing the strength of the US economy and whether the recent decline in oil prices will help ease inflation.“Despite near-term volatility, the outlook for US equities remains constructive, supported by strong corporate earnings, ongoing AI adoption, a resilient economy, and favorable financial conditions,” said Sameer Samana at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.Elsewhere, the dollar extended its declines a day after the Fed held interest rates unchanged and as the yen surged abruptly. In the Treasuries market, long-term yields touched fresh multiyear highs, extending the surge unleashed by the Fed decision to hold rates steady despite still-elevated inflation.Read: BOJ to Stand Pat With Ueda Back in Spotlight: Decision-Day GuideOil edged higher in early Friday trading, with West Texas Intermediate crude around $84 a barrel. Traders have hesitated to make big bets as they weighed US and Iran exchanging air strikes Thursday against a recent pick-up in shipping through Hormuz.Meanwhile, solid US consumer spending and business investment signaled underlying strength even as growth moderated in the second quarter.With the Bank of England also holding on Thursday, attention now will be on the Bank of Japan.The BOJ is expected to keep rates unchanged Friday, shifting investors’ attention to whether Governor Kazuo Ueda signals that the next rate increase could come sooner than many economists currently anticipate.All 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the BOJ will hold its benchmark rate steady at the end of a two-day gathering as it assesses the impact of last month’s increase to 1%, the highest in 31 years. That will put the spotlight on updated economic forecasts and Ueda’s press conference in the afternoon and any comments on the currency.“Previous interventions have been followed by BOJ hikes, most recently in mid-2024,” said Rory Green, an economist at TS Lombard.Corporate Highlights:Meta Platforms Inc. said it has already committed almost $700 billion in future spending, through long- and short-term agreements, related to AI data centers, cloud computing and more. Oracle Corp. said it would expand a partnership with Google Cloud to bring Gemini AI tools to its business customers. Qualcomm Inc. Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon said demand for smartphones remains strong, but the growing costs of making the devices are keeping the market down. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 8:22 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures rose 0.5% S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 1.1% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1526 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 159.82 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7466 per dollar The Australian dollar was unchanged at $0.7027 CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 0.2% to $64,863.36 Ether rose 0.3% to $1,926.38 BondsAustralia’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.96% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $84.03 a barrel Spot gold was little changed This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
