CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday, even as artificial intelligence stocks recovered some ground lost in last week's sell-off on fears that tighter regulations on data center construction, energy use, and development costs could slow the AI infrastructure boom.
Investors digested mixed inflation data from China and braced for key U.S. inflation readings and earnings from major AI companies, including CoreWeave, Cisco and Applied Materials, due later in the week.
The U.S. consumer price inflation data is due on Tuesday, followed by the producer price inflation data on Friday.
Gold prices rose about 1 percent to trade above $4,100 an ounce in Asian trade as the U.S. dollar stabilized after climbing on stronger-than-expected employment data.
Brent crude futures traded almost 2 percent lower below $97 a barrel, extending last week's losses after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was highly unlikely to order more attacks on Iran as long as talks continue on Iran's nuclear program and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
However, he left the door open for additional strikes, claiming three U.S. aircraft carriers were positioned in the region and that the U.S. had identified Iranian bridges and power plants as potential targets.
Ahead of a G7 meeting in France, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran talks have made no progress, describing Tehran's demands so far as unacceptable and warning that the U.S. could respond to threats against its forces.
Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed responsibility for six missile and drone attacks on Saudi targets, including Aramco facilities, Riyadh airport, and troops on both sides.
China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.32 percent to 3,660.79 after the release of inflation data. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.13 percent to 24,448.95.
China's annual consumer price inflation slowed to 0.7 percent in October from 0.9 percent in September, the National Bureau of Statistics reported earlier today - missing analyst expectations of 0.8 percent.
The producer price index accelerated to 5.7 percent from 5.0 percent in September due to higher global oil and commodity costs.
Japanese markets rallied as tech stocks recovered from last week's sell-off, with Advantest rising 1.3 percent and Tokyo Electron climbing 2.8 percent. Renesas Electronics surged 3.3 percent and Japan Steel Works soared 5 percent.
The Nikkei average jumped 2.33 percent to 58,775.50 while the broader Topix index settled 2.97 percent higher at 3,818.16.
Seoul stocks ended a choppy session notably lower amid uncertainties facing the artificial intelligence sector.
The Kospi index dropped 0.81 percent to 5,018.85. Tech stocks closed flat to mostly higher despite Nvidia opening an investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.
Australian markets swung between gains and losses before finishing marginally higher, led by beaten-down mining stocks as banks and consumer discretionary stocks lagged.
While the S&P/ASX 200 ended little changed at 9,029.70, the broader All Ordinaries index edged up 0.20 percent to 9,163.40.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index slipped 0.18 percent to 13,973.62 as Prime Minister Chritopher Luxon appeared to hang on to power as the head of a coalition government with a razor-thin majority.
U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday as tech stocks steadied after suffering one of their worst routs in years on concerns over an AI investment slowdown.
Overall gains remained capped somewhat as a strong October jobs report added to the case for a December rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Treasury yields rose as data showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by 165,000 jobs in October compared to economist estimates for the addition of 62,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent in September and there was a net upward revision of 84,000 jobs in the previous two months, adding to signs of labor-market strength.
Separate data revealed that a measure of U.S. consumer sentiment rose in November to the highest level in three months despite lingering concerns about inflation, stock turbulence, and a potential AI bubble.
While the Dow dropped half a percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.1 percent after Thursday's dramatic sell-off.
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