00:00Let's take a quick look at where markets are sitting. U.S. futures, three-tenths of a percent
00:06higher. Now, that follows a positive close for the S&P 500, about 1.7 percent higher,
00:13led by gains after earnings. We saw Apple and we also saw Amazon. Now, Apple dropped about six
00:19percent in after our trading, and this is because of the supply shortages. Amazon, though, was a
00:26contrast to that performance, about nine percent gain, and that is on cloud computing revenue that
00:32was higher for a fifth straight quarter. We also saw gains in the SOX index, the biggest in a while,
00:40and that is as the AI story returns front and focus. And speaking of that, Asian equities,
00:463.6 percent higher this morning, led by, no surprise, the KOSPI, which earlier in the session
00:53had its best intraday performance, 15 percent higher, led by gains and its two biggest constituents,
01:00Samsung and SK Hynix. In Asia, we're also keeping an eye on the yen. It's roaming around the 160
01:07level against the U.S. dollar. We'll talk more on in-depth about that. And then Brent crude prices,
01:14$88 on the barrel, one percent lower. Escalations in the Middle East continue, albeit a little bit
01:21calmer than over the past couple of days. But we have another geopolitical story out of Gaza. We'll
01:27talk a little bit more about that in just a few minutes. And then the yield on the 10-year
01:32notes,
01:334.65 percent lower, two basis points lower today. We're keeping an eye on the long-term yields, though,
01:40that are touching fresh multi-year highs. But we had solid U.S. consumer spending data,
01:46and we're keeping an eye out on that and continuously the hawkish tilt by the Federal
01:53Reserve. Now, for a look or a deeper dive into what is happening in Asian markets this morning,
01:59we've got Averill Hong in our Singapore studio for us. Averill, what do you have for us?
02:06Well, it's that powerful tech rebound underway in Asia today, Abir. I mean, you're looking at the
02:12Kospi. At one point, its climb was the most on record, and it's underpinned by a 20 percent
02:18rally in the chip giants. And investors may be betting that we're done with the unwind
02:25in momentum. Momentum is soaring today. It's coming back in a big way. And this is also supported by
02:32some domestic developments with the Sovereign Wealth Fund planning investments strategically
02:37into AI, which would, for the first time, include domestic assets. So that's what you're seeing in
02:43stocks. And that's also spreading to Japan, where the tech rebound is also underway. But to your point
02:48on the BOJ, we, of course, saw it leaving the overnight call rate unchanged at one percent. And to
02:54some, this was a missed opportunity to follow through on the yen gains overnight, where we did see
03:00the dollar-yen dipping below the 160 handle in the form of perhaps some expectations in market
03:08participants that there would be a surprise rate hike. So in the absence of that,
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