Despite continuing tensions in the Middle East, artificial intelligence stocks propelled Asian equity markets to record highs on Wednesday.
The CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, sparked the latest surge by declaring that Marvell Technology could become the next company worth a trillion dollars. This endorsement caused Marvell’s shares to jump over 30% immediately.
While Marvell’s current market value of $254 billion remains far from the trillion-dollar mark, other companies in the sector have closed similar gaps rapidly. Memory chip companies Micron and SK Hynix were valued at just $100 billion a year ago but now exceed $1 trillion each.
In Japan, memory manufacturer Kioxia temporarily became the country’s second-largest company by market value on Wednesday, surpassing longtime leader Toyota and trailing only tech investor SoftBank.
In other market news, Elon Musk’s SpaceX surprised investors by announcing plans to price its upcoming public offering at $135 per share, aiming to raise a record $75 billion, according to a source with knowledge of the plans.
Currency markets saw the Japanese yen approach critical levels, touching 160 per dollar – a threshold that typically triggers government intervention.
Regional conflicts intensified as the U.S. military reported that Iranian missile strikes targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and other areas in the region were either intercepted or unsuccessful. Diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran have made little headway.
Oil prices climbed approximately $1 per barrel in response to the escalating tensions.
Economic data releases scheduled for later Wednesday include U.S. services sector indicators, private sector employment figures, and the Federal Reserve’s economic assessment report. These come ahead of Friday’s official labor market data.
Tuesday’s employment statistics showed job openings rose by the largest amount in five years during April.
