Asian stocks rose and bonds stabilised at the start of trading on Wednesday following Wall Street's gain, Reuters reported from Singapore, as early indications from the corporate earnings season pointed to strong profits for global companies and bolstered investor confidence.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.5 per cent, led by a 4 per cent gain for Korean shares, while Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.3 per cent, Reuters said. S&P 500 e-mini futures rose 0.3 per cent. With 13 per cent of S&P 500 companies reporting so far, 86 per cent have beaten earnings estimates, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

The Associated Press, reporting the same trading day, described a more mixed picture by midday: Seoul's Kospi, after gaining more than 4 per cent early on, was trading up 3.4 per cent at 5,733.82, and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 per cent to 64,915.59. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged down 0.1 per cent to 23,836.46 and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3 per cent to 3,723.95, while Taiwan's Taiex rose 1.5 per cent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.1 per cent to 8,809.60, AP said.

Japan's exports jumped 16.7 per cent in September from a year earlier, on strong sales of autos and computer-related components, AP reported, while imports surged 18.9 per cent — largely because of higher oil prices due to the Iran war — nearly doubling Japan's trade deficit. "Robust AI demand should continue to support tech-related goods exports," Oxford Economics said in a report quoted by AP, while warning that non-AI capital goods and autos were likely to weaken amid high energy prices and borrowing costs.

In Seoul, South Korean AI company Elice, whose 32 per cent drop on Tuesday in its first day of trading had spooked markets, rebounded on Wednesday and hit the upward limit of 29.9 per cent, AP reported.

"Global equities were mixed, with solid earnings supporting US markets while ongoing concerns around the AI trade and elevated oil and borrowing costs weighed more heavily elsewhere," Westpac analysts wrote in a note quoted by Reuters. Reuters said oil prices fell on unconfirmed reports of renewed peace negotiations and largely retraced the move after the reports were denied — Awaaz Punjab is treating those negotiation reports as unconfirmed.

Sources: Reuters (Singapore, Oct 21); Associated Press (Oct 21).