US Rate Fears Stall Tech Recovery as Asian Markets Diverge

Asian markets diverged Wednesday as AI optimism clashed with higher-than-expected US inflation and prospects of a sharp interest rate hike next month, stalling tech recovery before European trading opened. Tech stocks rebounded this week after last week's correction, boosted by CoreWeave's strong sales forecast of $13-13.3 billion and Anthropic's IPO plans to raise up to $64 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation. However, US consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, exceeding forecasts, prompting Fed officials to signal possible aggressive rate action. Wall Street's three main indices fell Tuesday, ending a two-day rally, while Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei gained but Hong Kong and Shanghai lost. Oil prices hovered around $92 per barrel, and SoftBank dropped 8% after reporting a $7 billion quarterly loss.