Asian stocks rise as Anthropic files for US IPO and Meta plans $95bn raise

Anthropic's filing revives AI bets

On Tuesday, 27 October, Asian equity markets climbed as the AI trade regained momentum after Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, filed for a US initial public offering. The filing combined a steep loss with sharp revenue growth, showing first-half 2026 revenue of $16.3bn against $1.2bn in the same period last year, plus a $112bn cash pile. Investors are using these numbers to judge whether heavy AI infrastructure spending can eventually turn into profit. Some revenue figures were already known, so attention shifted to the filing itself. James Ooi, chief market strategist at Tiger Brokers, read the decision to file as a sign of confidence.

“The decision to proceed with an IPO filing amid recent volatility in the AI trade may itself be seen as a vote of confidence.”

Meta's share sale and Asian indices

Meta Platforms is seeking as much as $95bn in what would be its largest equity raise yet, a sign that capital is still flowing into AI. In Seoul, the technology-heavy Kospi rose as much as 4% during the session, with SK Hynix up 6.6% and Samsung up 4.6%. Reported peak gains ran between about 4% and nearly 5%, depending on the time of measurement, with the index reaching 5,737 points at its highest. The Kospi remained down 17% so far in October, reflecting unease over the AI trade. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.9% in one reading and later stood at 63,484 points, up 2.1%, while SoftBank Group rose 6.7% even though the OpenAI investor has fallen by more than a quarter over the past month.

Kospi (peak)4%

SK Hynix6.6%

Samsung4.6%

SoftBank Group6.7%

Nikkei 2251.9%

Kospi (peak)

4 %

SK Hynix

6.6 %

Samsung

4.6 %

SoftBank Group

6.7 %

Nikkei 225

1.9 %

Data from the article text

Daisuke Hashizume, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities, said the Tokyo market reacted with relief to the news of Anthropic's IPO.

“The market reacted with relief to the news of Anthropic's IPO, while technology heavyweight stocks followed the rise in the US chip index.”

Doubts about returns and rate decisions

A US chip index rose 2.8% in overnight trading, its biggest one-day jump in a month. Doubts about how AI spending turns into earnings have not gone away. Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise, said investors want evidence that demand is spreading beyond a web of closely linked AI deals.

“Investors need confidence that aggressive capex spending reflects durable business needs and that profitability will hold up as new infrastructure comes into service.”

Brent crude futures eased 0.7% to $114.95 a barrel, moving away from a six-month high as investors weighed a possible resolution to the US-Israeli war with Iran. Earlier in the Asian session the benchmark had traded at $114.60, while WTI was near $101. In Japan, the Bank of Japan's gauge of underlying inflation rose 3.2% in September from a year earlier, its highest in three years and well above the 2% target, strengthening the case for further rate increases. The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan all have policy decisions ahead, and economists expect all three to hold rates steady. Mitul Kotecha, head of Asian macro strategy at Barclays, said markets were in a wait-and-see mode as attention turned toward the US midterms.

Earnings and bond markets

More than a third of S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report in the week of 27 October, among them the AI hyperscalers Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.com. Samsung Life Insurance, an affiliate of Samsung Group, sold $1.5bn of subordinated notes on Monday, 26 October, the biggest dollar bond sale by a South Korean insurer. The deal went ahead even though volatile debt markets have forced some companies to pull planned offerings. In Japan, investment plans from ten domestic insurers for the second half of the fiscal year show a broad shift from lower-yielding bonds into higher-yielding debt. Elevated yields are creating chances to lift portfolio returns.