Equities Higher On Strong Japan Export Data & Tech Prices

Asian markets opened higher this morning, driven by gains in chip stocks following Nvidia's surge to become the world's most valuable company. Japanese equities rose with export-related stocks leading the way, supported by expectations of US interest rate cuts. In South Korea, the KOSPI gained over 1%, led by tech and auto stocks, while Hong Kong futures pointed to gains amid positive sentiment from Wall Street. However, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 saw a slight decline, with financial stocks weighing down the index.

• Japanese equities opened higher, buoyed by gains in export-related stocks such as automobile and electrical machinery companies. The Nikkei 225 rose by 0.7% to 38,769.31, while the Topix Index increased by 0.6% to 2,731.30, driven by expectations of US interest rate cuts. Toyota Motor Corp. contributed significantly to the gains. Semiconductor-related stocks also advanced following Nvidia's performance in the US market. Earlier, Japan Trade Balance was -¥1221.3b vs -¥1280.5b est, with the deficit widening from -¥465.6b in April, with exports rising to 13.5% from 8.3%.
• South Korean stocks opened higher, with the KOSPI rising by 1.02% to 2,792.23 in early trading. Tech stocks led the gains, with Samsung Electronics up 1.6% and SK Hynix climbing 1.3%, following Nvidia's surge. Auto stocks like Hyundai Motor also performed well. However, some transport and energy stocks, such as Korean Air and Korea Gas Corp., saw declines. Foreign investors have been buyers of local stocks so far this morning, with majority of the flows heading into tech names.
• Taiwan equities have opened higher this morning, there has been very little in the way of local headlines. The market is being led higher by semiconductor stocks, TSMC in particular which is up 1.91%.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 opened a touch lower, down 0.09% at 7,772.70, with financial stocks leading the decline. Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Helia Group Ltd. contributed significantly to the losses. In early trading, most sectors were down, with financials seeing the most significant drop.
• Elsewhere, New Zealand equities are 0.42% lower, Philippines equities are 0.10% higher, Singapore equities are up 0.33% while Malaysian equities are little changed.