Asian Stocks to Rise as Wall Street Extends Gains: Markets Wrap

Asian markets are poised to rise on Friday, following a strong performance on Wall Street overnight. Investors are assessing the earnings of big tech companies and the latest economic data. Here's a wrap of the key developments:

1. Wall Street's Gains: All three major U.S. indexes rose overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 168.61 points, or 0.38%, to close at 44,882.13. The S&P 500 gained 0.53% to 6,071.17, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.25% to end at 19,681.75.
2. Tech Earnings: Strong earnings reports from Tesla, IBM, and Meta Platforms helped push indexes higher. Tesla's stock surged 12% after reporting a surprise profit, while IBM and Meta Platforms also delivered better-than-expected results.
3. AI Boom: The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has been a primary reason for the U.S. stock market's run to repeated records. However, the threat posed by Chinese startup DeepSeek, which claims to have developed a large language model capable of competing with the world's best without using top-flight chips, has hit stocks like Nvidia particularly hard.
4. Japan's Inflation: Japan's core inflation rate, a key indicator of national trends, rose to 2.5% in January, surpassing the central bank's 2% target and paving the way for further interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, Japan's unemployment rate for December declined to 2.4% from 2.5% in the previous month.
5. Data Releases: A slew of data from Japan is slated for release later in the day, including the Tokyo consumer price index, unemployment rate, retail sales, and industrial output figures for December.
6. Australia's Producer Price Index: Australia is expected to release its producer price index reading for the fourth quarter later in the day.
7. Market Sentiment: The positive sentiment from Wall Street's gains is expected to carry over to Asian markets, with investors focusing on the latest earnings and data releases.

In conclusion, Asian stocks are expected to rise on Friday, driven by the positive sentiment from Wall Street's gains and the latest earnings and data releases. Investors should keep an eye on the performance of tech stocks, particularly those involved in the AI sector, as well as the latest inflation and economic data from Japan and Australia. As always, it's essential to conduct thorough research and maintain a balanced portfolio to mitigate risks and capitalize on potential opportunities.