KOSPI and Nikkei gain up to 5%, Softbank jumps 15%: What's behind Tuesday's Asian market rally?

Asian markets rallied on Tuesday as investors sought to gain exposure to AI and tech stocks. South Korea's KOSPI Index rose almost 5 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 3 percent.

SoftBank Group Corp shares rose 15 percent intraday to Japanese Yen 3914. This follows a close yesterday of JPY 3400. The company has fallen by 30 percent over the past year to reach the current price from a high of JPY 9074.

This mirrored the rebound in tech stocks on Wall Street yesterday. Nasdaq surged 2.74% on Monday, while the S&P 500 rose 2.35% to clock its best day since April 8.

Crude Oil falls 12% in a week

World crude oil prices continued their downtrend on Tuesday as Brent Crude fell below USD92 per barrel. This is due to optimism that there could be a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict. This has caused fears of supply issues to fade.

Brent crude futures are currently trading at USD91.66 per barrel, down 0.90 (0.98%) for the day. Brent crude has fallen by 12.50% in the past week and has fallen USD13.09 per barrel. The asset has hit its lowest point since late August.

WTI crude futures are trading at USD85.84 per barrel, down 1.01 (1.16%) for the day. WTI crude futures have fallen by 11.19% in the past week.

Semiconductors rally

Semiconductor stocks rebounded following a sharp correction last week. Following heavy selling of stocks following the US midterm elections, where Democrats had a landslide victory.

Investor sentiment was soured last week following increased regulatory concerns and potential slowdowns in data centre expansion following victory by Democrats.

Japanese semiconductor stocks led the charge with Kioxia Holdings up 6.9%, Advantest up 5.3%, Tokyo Electron up 5.8% and SoftBank Group up 11.9%.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index was trading at 5,220.92, up during the trading session on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. The index opened at 5,247.22 and touched an intraday high of 5,300.92 and a low of 5,174.55.

SK Hynix and Samsung were the major winners, rising up to 6 per cent intraday on Tuesday.

AI industry remains unaffected by Jensen Huang affair controversy

Jensen Huang, the founder of mega tech giant Nvidia, has been embroiled in a controversy involving alleged foreign intelligence links, a Chinese businesswoman and a Singpore-based AI data centre company. While China has repeatedly dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign, Nvidia's board has ordered an independent probe. Huang has pledged to cooperate, while the company at the centre of the allegations has denied any wrongdoing.

According to foreign media reports, Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman and former executive linked to Singapore-based AI data centre company Megaspeed International, was collecting information on behalf of Beijing.

The reports also drew attention to earlier claims that Megaspeed had been involved in illegally shipping advanced Nvidia chips to China.

The company has denied any wrongdoing.

Huang admitted that he had an affair with Alice Huang.

In a message to Nvidia employees dated November 8, Huang admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologised to his family and colleagues.

He also responded to the national security concerns raised in media reports, stating that he backed the board's investigation and would cooperate fully.

"I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America's national security," Huang said.

He did not identify the woman in his message and requested privacy for his family.