Global stock markets rise as investors continue to bet on AI

Global stock markets experienced an upswing as investors maintained their optimism regarding the potential of technology companies driving the current artificial intelligence (AI) surge. In the United States, all three principal stock indices saw increases on Tuesday, with the tech-centric Nasdaq Composite leading the way with a rise of 1.18 percent.

The S&P 500 index rose by 0.6 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a modest increase of 0.03 percent. Among the prominent technology stocks, five of the "Magnificent Seven" reported gains, with Tesla seeing the most significant increase of 4.04 percent. Amazon's stock climbed by 1.61 percent, while Apple and Alphabet saw increases of 0.93 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Nvidia, recognized as the most valuable publicly traded company globally, experienced a nearly 1 percent rise following the announcement of a $3 billion investment in Meta's equity offering. Conversely, Meta's stock fell by 1.64 percent, and Microsoft’s shares dipped by 0.24 percent.

Other notable movements in the tech sector included Advanced Micro Devices, which surged by 5.45 percent, followed by Broadcom and Intel, which rose by 4 percent and 3.61 percent, respectively.

The positive momentum continued in the Asia Pacific region on Wednesday, with stock markets in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia all reporting gains. The KOSPI index in Seoul led the charge with an impressive increase of 5.84 percent as of 03:00 GMT. This surge was propelled by SK Hynix, one of the world's leading memory chip manufacturers, which announced remarkable third-quarter results, revealing an operating profit that soared approximately 630 percent year-on-year to reach 83.33 trillion won ($62.8 billion). Following this announcement, SK Hynix shares in South Korea surged by over 8 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose by 1.26 percent, while Taiwan's TAIEX index increased by 1.32 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia experienced a slight uptick of 0.11 percent.

Investors are eagerly awaiting upcoming earnings reports from major tech companies to assess whether their substantial investments in AI will yield positive results. Microsoft and Alphabet are set to release their latest financial results on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday and Apple on Monday.

On Monday, AI firm Anthropic filed for its highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO), reporting a net loss of $80.7 billion in the first half of 2026 against revenues of $16.3 billion. This comes amid a climate where tech companies have invested hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure, raising concerns about the possibility of a speculative market bubble reminiscent of the dot-com crash of 2000.

According to Gartner, a technology insights firm, global investments in AI are projected to reach $2.7 trillion by 2026 and $3.6 trillion by 2027.

Meanwhile, oil prices, which have seen an uptick since the onset of the US-Israel conflict over Iran, rose by approximately 1 percent as Asian markets opened on Wednesday. This increase is occurring amidst ongoing tensions in the Middle East, particularly between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen. Futures for Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, were hovering around $115 per barrel, representing a 59 percent increase compared to pre-war levels.