Asian Markets Cautious Ahead of Fed Speech as Nvidia Fuels Tech Rally

Asian markets were cautious on Friday as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. Despite this, the MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index rose 0.1%, while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.5%. Taiwan stocks also rose 1.2% after Nvidia surged nearly 9% in Thursday's trading.

The chipmaker reported strong results and signalled that the AI spending boom would continue for several years, fuelling a technology stock rally. However, South Korea's KOSPI fell 1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.3%. Futures markets are pricing in about a 35% chance that the Fed will raise interest rates at its September 16 meeting.

Markets are fully pricing in a rate hike by December at the latest, but Warsh has so far refrained from providing guidance on the direction of interest rates. ANZ analysts said markets were hoping he could reduce some of the uncertainty over how the Fed responds to economic conditions. However, they believe Warsh is unlikely to provide such certainty.