Asian Markets Gain Ahead of Earnings, Fed Decision

Asian stocks were mostly higher Tuesday after an AI-led rally on Wall Street ahead of major corporate earnings and central-bank decisions.

U.S. futures edged lower after earlier gains and oil prices extended losses.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped more than 4% and closed 3.1% higher at 5,638.34. Computer chipmaker SK Hynix rallied 5.2% and Samsung Electronics gained 4.2%.

SK Hynix is set to release its third-quarter earnings Wednesday, a day before rival Samsung Electronics reports its results. Samsung estimated a record operating profit for the last quarter at 107.4 trillion won ($80 million), up nearly eight-fold from a year earlier.

Strong global demand for semiconductors is driving strong growth, as the South Korean economy expanded at a better-than-expected 3.4% annual rate in July-September, according to data released Tuesday.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 1.7% to 63,268.37. Testing equipment maker Advantest jumped 9.6% and OpenAI investor SoftBank Group climbed 5%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up early gains, slipping 0.6% to 23,077.56, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.3% to 3,648.30.