Asian equities climbed to a new all-time high as investors added to bets on technology shares, extending last year’s rally in artificial-intelligence–linked companies.
MSCI’s benchmark stock index for the region jumped as much as 1.7%, with chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. among the winners.
A gauge of emerging markets also advanced to a record, while equity-index futures for the US and Europe rallied. Bitcoin led gains among cryptocurrencies.
Silver surged as much as 4.8% and gold jumped as much as 2% to above $4,400 an ounce after the US move to oust Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro over the weekend. Copper rallied toward an all-time high amid speculation about tightening supply.
Oil fluctuated amid concerns about global crude supply. The buoyant mood in Asian equities comes after regional stocks posted their strongest start to a year since 2012 on optimism that heavy corporate investment in tech will bolster earnings growth.
For now, the risk-on sentiment is shrugging off concern that geopolitical tensions will curtail a rally that propelled global equities to their biggest annual gain in eight years.
