Asian Stocks Mixed as CoreWeave Boosts Chipmakers, Inflation Weighs

Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday as semiconductor shares rose in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan while Chinese and Hong Kong tech stocks fell. Strong CoreWeave results boosted AI sentiment, but higher-than-expected US inflation revived fears of further Federal Reserve rate hikes. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index rose up to 0.8%, led by tech gains, with South Korea's KOSPI up 1.8% and Japan's Nikkei 225 up 1.2%. Chipmakers advanced, including SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9% and Chinese indices slipped, with NetEase and Meituan leading losses. CoreWeave shares rose about 2% after beating quarterly estimates and raising its annual forecast, signaling strong AI computing demand. US consumer prices rose 0.4% monthly in October, exceeding expectations for a third straight month, with markets pricing a quarter-point Fed hike in December. Chinese tech weakness also reflected US-China tech cooperation uncertainty before the Trump-Xi meeting, while SoftBank Group fell 11% on a quarterly loss.