logo
Asia-Pacific markets set to mostly climb as investors await Bank of Korea decision

Asia-Pacific markets set to mostly climb as investors await Bank of Korea decision

CNBC28-05-2025

Hongdae street in Seoul city, South Korea
Twenty47studio | Moment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to mostly climb Thursday as investors look toward the Bank of Korea decision.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,350 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 37,840 against the index's last close of 37,722.4.
Futures tied to Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index stood at 8,430, pointing to a higher open than its last close of 8,396.9.
Hong Kong markets are poised to slip slightly with futures tied to the Hang Seng index at 23,132, compared to the benchmark's last close of 23,258.31.
Investors are expected to keep an eye on the outcome of the Bank of Korea's meeting decision, as well as Asian chip stocks, after Nvidia posted stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue on Wednesday, driven by a 73% year-over-year surge in its data center business.
U.S. futures rose Wednesday night, buoyed by a strong earnings report from artificial intelligence heavyweight Nvidia.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.8%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 206 points, or 0.5%.
Overnight, the three major stock averages closed lower as investors parsed the latest earnings reports and Federal Reserve meeting minutes.
The S&P 500 slid 0.56% to end at 5,888.55, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.51% and settled at 19,100.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 244.95 points, or 0.58%, and closed at 42,098.70.
— CNBC's Alex Harring, Sarah Min and Pia Singh contributed to this report
The three major indexes concluded Wednesday's session in the red.
The Dow and S&P 500 each finished around 0.6% lower. The Nasdaq Composite ended down 0.5%.
— Alex Harring

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Circle extends gains, Plug Power shareholder vote, Docusign sinks
Circle extends gains, Plug Power shareholder vote, Docusign sinks

Yahoo

time25 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Circle extends gains, Plug Power shareholder vote, Docusign sinks

Yahoo Finance host Julie Hyman tracks today's top moving stocks and biggest market stories in this Market Minute. Circle (CRCL) stock continues to surge in its second trading day. Docusign (DOCU) is sinking despite a first quarter earnings and revenue beat after the company reported billings that missed analysts' estimates. Plug Power (PLUG) stock is rising ahead of the company's key shareholder vote on a proposal to increase the number of its shares and to permit a reverse stock split to avoid being delisted from the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC). Stay up to date on the latest market action, minute-by-minute, with Yahoo Finance's Market Minute. It's time for Yahoo! Finance's Market Minute. US stocks rallying, following a moderate beat on the monthly jobs report, and amid hopes of a cooldown in that feud between President Trump and Elon Musk. Circle shares surging in the second day of trading. Stable coin issuer building on its meteoric with 168% gains on its IPO day. Its market debut coming as crypto has received favorable treatment from the Trump administration and increasingly from corporations. DocuSign shares though are sinking despite a beat on earnings and revenue in the first quarter. The digital agreements company reporting billings that missed analyst estimates. The billings forecast for the second quarter, also disappointing Wall Street. And Plug Power shares rising as the company faces a critical shareholder vote. Plug Power is seeking approval on a proposal to increase the number of its shares, as well as a proposal that permits a reverse stock split. That coming as the stock's at risk of being delisted from the NASDAQ, as its share price trends below a dollar. And that's your Yahoo! Finance Market Minute. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

International stocks are ahead of the U.S. so far this year—how to add them to your portfolio
International stocks are ahead of the U.S. so far this year—how to add them to your portfolio

CNBC

time41 minutes ago

  • CNBC

International stocks are ahead of the U.S. so far this year—how to add them to your portfolio

For investors, the U.S. has been the place to be in recent years. Over the past decade and a half, the S&P 500 — a measure of the broad U.S. stock market — has returned an annualized 14.2%. The MSCI ACWI ex-USA index, which measures the performance of stocks from pretty much everywhere else, logged a return of 6.5% over the same period. Since the start of 2025, however, investors are eschewing U.S. stocks in favor of international names. So far this year, the ACWI ex-USA index has returned 15.7%, trouncing the 1.5% return in the S&P. "In 2025 thus far, there are some clear indications that investors are adopting the 'ABUSA' ('Anywhere But the USA') mindset," says David Rosenstrock, a certified financial planner and director of financial planning and investments at Wharton Wealth Planning. "This shift is partly driven by concerns over market volatility in the U.S., uncertainty regarding policies and relatively weaker performance compared to global counterparts," he says. So is it time to invest in foreign stocks? Yes and no, say financial pros. You shouldn't make any wholesale changes to your portfolio mix based on short-term market results, they say. But if you have little or no foreign exposure, diversifying is likely a savvy move over the long term. Here's why. If you were born in the 90s, you may have never been invested during a sustained period during which foreign stocks outperformed domestic names, as they did in the back half of the 80s and much of the early 2000s. If that's the case, you may be tempted to continue ignoring foreign stocks, even after the recent uptick. "The problem is those trends tend to tend to reverse over time," says Amy Arnott, a portfolio strategist at Morningstar. "So even if the U.S. is outperforming over a very long period, like it did [in the 15 years] through 2024, eventually that trend reverses." While it may feel like the U.S. has dominated stock markets forever, it wasn't that long ago that foreign firms were delivering better returns. From 2001 to 2010, for instance, the ACWI ex-US index submitted a cumulative total return of 71.5% compared with a 15% gain in the S&P 500. Adding some foreign stocks to your portfolio can help guarantee at least some exposure to whichever side is performing better over the many years you're likely to invest. "True diversification means tapping into different economic cycles, monetary policies and growth drivers. It offers exposure to unique industries," says Marcos Segrera, a CFP and principal at Evensky & Katz/Foldes Wealth Management. "Furthermore, owning foreign stocks is a crucial way to diversify away from U.S.-specific risks." If you're looking to invest in foreign stocks, the most effective way to do it is by adding a low-cost index mutual fund or exchange-traded fund, says Arnott. "That way, you can get international diversification in one package and get exposure to a large number of companies and countries outside of the U.S.," she says. Market watchers generally divide foreign stocks into two camps: those that come from "developed" economies, such as those in Japan, Australia and several European countries, and emerging markets, such as China, India and much of Latin America. You can buy funds which invest in either, but "to keep things simple," owning a "total international stock" fund — such as one that tracks the MSCI ACWI ex-USA or something similar — will get you exposure to both, says Arnott. And while you may have powerful convictions about the future of a particular country and its economy, you'd be wise to avoid tilting your foreign exposure too much in that direction, Arnott says. Putting all your eggs in one country or region's basket, she says, can result in big swings in your portfolio. "It can be tempting to do that when there's a lot of excitement about Asia Pacific stocks or Latin America, or things like that," she says. "But it's difficult to use those types of funds in a portfolio just because they are more volatile, more narrowly defined, and people unfortunately have a tendency to sometimes see performance over the past few years and buy in at the wrong time."

Down Nearly 60%, Should You Buy the Dip on SoundHound AI?
Down Nearly 60%, Should You Buy the Dip on SoundHound AI?

Yahoo

time41 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Down Nearly 60%, Should You Buy the Dip on SoundHound AI?

SoundHound AI is growing rapidly, but it's racking up steep losses. Its growing dependence on acquisitions raises a few red flags. A lot of growth has already been baked into its valuations. 10 stocks we like better than SoundHound AI › SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN), a developer of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered audio recognition tools, saw its stock close at a record high of $24.23 on Dec. 26, 2024. But since then, its stock has declined nearly 60%. Let's see why this hot stock fizzled out -- and if its pullback represents a buying opportunity for long-term investors. SoundHound AI's namesake app identifies songs by listening to several seconds of recorded audio or a few hummed bars. However, most of its growth is fueled by Houndify, its developer platform, which allows businesses to create their own custom voice recognition tools. Houndify powers voice recognition features in restaurant ordering platforms, smart TVs, connected cars, and other devices. It's an appealing option for companies that don't want to send data to Microsoft, Alphabet's Google, or other tech giants that provide their own data-gathering voice recognition services. SoundHound AI initially attracted a lot of attention for three reasons. First, its revenue surged 47% in 2022, rose another 47% in 2023, and jumped 85% in 2024. Second, the booming AI market drove a stampede of bulls to its AI-driven stock. Lastly, the AI chipmaking bellwether Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) boosted its stake in SoundHound and integrated its voice recognition tools into its Drive platform for connected vehicles. Yet Soundify's stock stumbled for three reasons. First, most of its growth in 2023 and 2024 was driven by acquisitions -- including the restaurant AI company SYNQ3, the online food ordering platform Allset, and the conversational AI company Amelia. That strategy strengthened its position in the restaurant industry, but it also indicated it was running out of room to grow. Second, those acquisitions made it even tougher to break even. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margins came in at negative 73% last year -- which broadly missed its original target of achieving a positive adjusted EBITDA margin by 2024. Lastly, Nvidia liquidated its entire position in SoundHound AI earlier this year. SoundHound ended 2024 with a backlog of $1.2 billion, and it already serves big automakers like Stellantis, quick-serve restaurants like Chipotle, healthcare institutions like MUSC Health, and tech giants like Tencent. Automakers are adding more voice-activated features to their vehicles, restaurants are using more of its AI tools to process their drive-thru and phone orders, and healthcare institutions are processing more patient requests with Amelia's AI chatbots. SoundHound could still have plenty of room to expand. From 2025 to 2035, the global voice agents market could grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.8%, according to market research firm as more companies replace their human workers with AI-powered voice agents. For 2025, SoundHound expects its revenue to surge 97%. From 2024 to 2027, analysts expect its revenue to rise at a CAGR of 48%, from $85 million to $277 million. They also expect it to finally squeeze out a positive adjusted EBITDA of $5 million in 2027. That outlook seems promising, but a lot of its future growth has already been baked into its valuations. With a market cap of $4.1 billion, it already trades at 25.5 times this year's sales. It's also more than doubled its number of shares since it went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) just over three years ago, and that dilution will likely continue as it relies on its secondary offerings to raise fresh cash and its stock-based compensation to subsidize its salaries and acquisitions. So while SoundHound AI is still growing rapidly, it hasn't proven that it deserves its premium valuation or that its business model is sustainable. I might nibble on the stock after its recent pullback -- since its core market is still expanding -- but I wouldn't go all in until it meaningfully narrows its losses. Before you buy stock in SoundHound AI, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and SoundHound AI wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $656,825!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $865,550!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 994% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tencent. The Motley Fool recommends Stellantis and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft, and short June 2025 $55 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Down Nearly 60%, Should You Buy the Dip on SoundHound AI? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store