Asian stock markets eked gains on Thursday after better-than-expected revenue at chip giant Nvidia helped the sector in Taiwan and South Korea and offset worries that strong economic data so far this year is a harbinger of even more rate hikes.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) touched its lowest level since Jan. 6 in early trade, but rose about 0.7% as the day wore on.
Nasdaq futures which sent its shares up nearly 9% after-hours.
Shares in the giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW) rose 2.2% to lift Taiwan's benchmark (.TWII) 1.3%. A 4% gain for SK Hynix (000660.KS) and a 2% gain for Samsung (005930.KS) drove South Korea's Kospi (.KS11) 1% higher.
Currencies in South Korea and Taiwan each rose sharply.
"The semiconductor sector has been troubled, but signs of recovery are picking up," said Kiyong Seong, lead Asia macro strategist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. "Markets have positioned for a recovery in the second half of this year so anything supportive of that is helpful for prices."
The Bank of Korea also offered some relief by ending a year-long run of uninterrupted rate hikes with a pause - as expected.
Currency trade was lightened by a holiday in Japan but the drift was in line with the broader mood - sending the dollar down a little bit in favour of riskier currencies.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars each bounced about 0.5% on the dollar, pushing the Aussie to $0.6842 and the kiwi to $0.6251. The euro hovered around $1.0622 and the yen traded at 134.77 to the dollar.
Sources: Reuters