On June 26, most Asian markets rose alongside gains in technology stocks, while the Australian stock market plunged sharply on unexpectedly high inflation data.

Inspired by Wall Street, regional markets, particularly buoyed by the recovery of chip giants like NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices closing higher. Concerns over anticipated inflation data, however, led to declines in economically sensitive companies, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending lower. US stock index futures showed a calm performance during Asian trading.

Australia's stock market plummeted due to deviation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the central bank's annual target range of 2%-3%, sparking fears of rate hikes. The ASX 200 index became one of Asia's worst-performing markets as May's CPI data exceeded expectations. This data heightened expectations for a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia in August, despite the bank not yet officially confirming such a move, though it expressed a hawkish stance in its meeting last week.

The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9% thanks to gains in heavyweight companies like chip manufacturers, while South Korea's KOSPI index increased by 0.3% on the strength of chipmaker gains.

Earlier, NVIDIA had just experienced three consecutive days of heavy losses. Related Asian stocks surged today, with Japan's Advantest (TYO:6857) up 6.1% and SK Hynix (KS:000660) up 4.4%. Taiwan's TSMC (TW:2330), the world's largest contract chipmaker, rose 1% in Taiwan trading.

Amid ongoing trade tensions, Chinese markets performed poorly. The Shanghai Shenzhen 300 Index and Shanghai Composite Index both fell by 0.4%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index saw slight gains.

Sentiments towards China remained tense amid concerns over potential trade wars with the West. This sentiment was particularly pronounced after Beijing hinted at imposing tariffs on European imports of Chinese electric vehicles. Trade war fears have led to significant declines in Chinese indices in June, as optimism over further stimulus measures in the country gradually wanes.

In other Asian markets, futures for India's Nifty 50 index showed a slight uptick at the opening, following recent historic highs reached by both the Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex 30 indices on June 25. Optimism about India's economic prospects has been a key driver of recent stock market gains, buoyed by the outcome of the 2024 general elections.