Hitachi-OpenAI Partnership Fuels Asia Market Gains; Japan’s Unemployment Rises

Japanese conglomerate Hitachi saw its shares soar over 9% today, Friday, following its announcement late Thursday of a major partnership with OpenAI. This collaboration aims to establish advanced artificial-intelligence infrastructure and data centers globally, signaling a significant push into the burgeoning AI sector.

The news provided a significant boost to Japan’s broader market, with the Nikkei 225 climbing 1.57% and the Topix rising 1.33% today. Investors appear to be looking past broader economic concerns, focusing instead on growth opportunities presented by strategic tech alliances.

Despite the market optimism, recent government data revealed a slight uptick in Japan’s unemployment rate, which rose to 2.6% in August. This figure exceeded economists’ expectations of 2.4% and was higher than the previous month’s 2.3%. Conversely, the S&P Global Japan services purchasing managers’ index showed improvement, climbing to 53.3 in September from 53.1 in August, driven by stronger domestic demand. However, a decline in manufacturing output tempered overall private sector expansion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Across the Asia-Pacific region, market performance was mixed. Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 registered a modest gain of 0.27%. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index retreated 0.47%, with its tech counterpart falling 1.21%. India’s Nifty 50 and Sensex indices also saw declines of 0.16% and 0.36% respectively. Chinese and South Korean markets remained closed for public holidays.

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