Asian Stocks Rise After Anthropic's IPO Filing

The wave of growth in tech stocks on Wall Street following Anthropic PBC's IPO filing has spread to Asian markets, reigniting interest in AI investments. South Korea's KOSPI rose 3.3% amid gains in SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Semiconductor manufacturers' stocks also rose in Japan, while the broader MSCI index for the Asia-Pacific region added 0.7%; Taiwanese stocks declined.

In addition to Anthropic, sentiment was buoyed by fundraising in the tech sector: Meta Platforms aims to raise up to $95 billion, Broadcom organized a $63 billion deal to finance chip purchases, and SpaceX signed an equipment lease agreement worth approximately $40 billion. Brent crude fell 1% to around $114.70 per barrel after senior officials from several countries headed to Tehran in an attempt to resume talks to prevent wider escalation in the Middle East.

Anthropic's listing will be a key test of investors' appetite for AI companies: recent concerns over high valuations and large-scale spending have triggered a wave of sell-offs in chipmakers' stocks. The company has filed the long-awaited S-1 form and is nearing the status of the first public company primarily focused on advanced AI models. Investors are scrutinizing the prospectus for signals of AI demand.

Wall Street is rapidly financing the AI hype, but the growth of debt and equity financing along with the depletion of funds in AI labs has raised concerns that some of the funding may prove unsustainable.

The test of the rally's recovery will be the reports of major companies this week. Alphabet and Microsoft will report on Wednesday, Amazon and Intel on Thursday. Investors will be watching spending plans and whether investments are yielding sufficient returns. "The main question is whether this week's results can restore confidence in the sustainability of AI-related demand," said Jeong In Young, CEO of Fibonacci Asset Management Global. "For the recovery to continue, encouraging earnings forecasts and continued purchases by foreign investors are needed."

The Fed meeting is another key test: the rate is expected to be held after the September hike. Markets assess the probability of a hike on Wednesday at about 10% versus more than 70% by the end of the year.