Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 25, 2026
4 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleAsian stocks rose on AI enthusiasm, lifting Japan’s Nikkei to records and Korea’s KOSPI above 6,000. The yen steadied as investors awaited President Trump’s State of the Union and Nvidia’s earnings for policy and AI signals.
By Chibuike Oguh and Alun John
NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Global shares rose on Wednesday, helped by a rally in technology stocks and with Nvidia reporting better-than-expected sales.
Markets had been anticipating results from Nvidia, the world's largest company by market capitalization. The chipmaker reported a 73% jump in quarterly revenue to $68.1 billion, outpacing the Wall Street estimate of $66.2 billion. Nvidia shares closed up 1.4% in regular hours and were up 3% in post-market trading.
Investor concerns about U.S. tariffs appear to be taking a back seat while worries about the impact of artificial intelligence are easing.
On Wall Street, all three indexes finished higher with technology and financial stocks gaining the most. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.63%, the S&P 500 rose 0.81%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.3%.
MSCI's world share index was up 0.92% with Europe's broad STOXX 600 0.69% higher after hitting a record high.
Software stocks posted gains in the U.S. and Europe on Tuesday when AI lab Anthropic announced several new plug-ins developed jointly with partners.
"AI is the dominant theme and what's moving the market more than anything right now," said Aaron Schaechterle, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors in Denver.
"On the positive side of the AI theme, there's capital spending on data centers and power and we don't see that ending soon. The second theme in AI is the displacement threat to established software companies."
"Ultimately, when you look at what we are debating about these stocks, it's not what will happen next quarter but what could happen five or six years from now," Schaechterle said.
POLITICAL AND GEOPOLITICAL WORRIES
The optimism in equities comes even as investors grapple with a range of geopolitical worries, though it did allow U.S. President Donald Trump to boast of stock market gains in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
Trump also said "almost all" countries and corporations want to stick to tariff and investment agreements previously made with Washington, but he did not offer clarity regarding his plans for Iran amid signs he is inching closer to a military conflict.
The worries about AI, Iran and tariffs have helped support government bonds in the U.S. and particularly Europe in recent days, although yields were slightly higher on Wednesday.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 2.5 basis points to 4.058%. [US/]
Most European 10-year government bond yields were also up. The yield on benchmark German 10-year Bunds rose 0.2 basis point to 2.71%. [GVD/EUR]
Japanese yields rose sharply after the nomination of two academics seen as dovish to the central bank's board.
While rate-sensitive shorter-dated yields fell on expectations for less-immediate BOJ rate hikes, broader worries that the BOJ is behind the curve sent longer-dated yields higher.
In currencies, the dollar was weaker against the euro with the single currency up 0.3% at $1.1806 and the pound up 0.47% at $1.3551. [FRX/]
The Japanese yen weakened 0.31% against the greenback to 156.38 per dollar. Against the Swiss franc, the dollar weakened 0.14% to 0.773.
Oil prices were little changed as a much larger-than-expected U.S. crude stock build outweighed the threat to oil supply from potential military conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
U.S. crude settled down 0.32% to $65.42 a barrel and Brent rose 0.11% to settle at $70.85.
Spot gold rose 0.4% to $5,168.44 an ounce.
(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Additional reporting by Niket Nishant; Editing by Chris Reese, David Gregorio, Rod Nickel)
Asian markets advanced on renewed AI optimism, with Japanese and Korean equities leading gains. The article highlights currency moves, central bank expectations, and key U.S. events that could sway sentiment.
Japan’s Nikkei hit fresh records and Korea’s KOSPI crossed 6,000, driven by strength in semiconductor names like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix amid the AI upcycle.
The yen steadied as traders assessed potential Bank of Japan rate hikes and policy signals. Shifts in BOJ expectations and any official commentary can quickly move USD/JPY and local equities.
Markets are eyeing President Trump’s State of the Union for cues on trade and the economy, and Nvidia’s quarterly results for confirmation that AI demand continues to support chipmakers and broader tech.
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