Asian stocks are up after the rebound on Wall Street

Asian stocks were mostly higher on Monday after U.S. stocks rebounded from Wall Street’s worst day since April to finish higher for the week.

US futures fell while oil prices rose.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% to 38,758.96 and Seoul’s Kospi jumped 0.7% to 2,705.87.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 0.7% to 2,705.87 and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3% to 3,097.86 as the government announced corporate profits had increased by 4.3% year-on-year in April.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.2% to 18,576.65.

Taiwan led the advance, with heavy buying of computer chip-related stocks pushing the Taiex up 1.3% to a new record high. MediaTek, a semiconductor company that provides chips for wireless communications, high-definition television and portable mobile devices, jumped 8.4%.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. recorded a more modest gain of 0.5%.

“The strong global semiconductor cycle is positive for Taiwan’s growth prospects,” ANZ’s Raymond Yeung and Bansi Madhavani wrote in a research note. “The global semiconductor cycle is strong thanks to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence applications, cloud computing and 5G telecommunications technology,” it says.

On Friday, the S&P 500 gained 0.7% to 5,304.72 and regained all of its losses from the previous two days. He posted a slight gain for the week, extending his weekly winning streak to five, and sits just shy of his record set on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1% to 39,069.59, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1%, to 16,920.79, surpassing an all-time high set earlier in the week.

Nvidia rose another 2.6% on Friday, making it the main force pushing the S&P 500 higher.

This week’s stock woes came despite another report on runaway profits from Nvidia, which has become one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks amid a frenzy around artificial intelligence technology. The fervor around AI has pushed some stocks to heights that critics have called overblown, but Nvidia’s stunning growth and forecasts suggest it could continue.

The U.S. economy as a whole is showing continued strength in U.S. household spending, but the numbers beneath the surface may not be as encouraging.

The market got a slight boost Friday from a report showing that overall U.S. consumer confidence weakened less in May than preliminary data suggested. Perhaps more importantly, the University of Michigan report also said that U.S. consumers’ inflation expectations for the coming year rose less in May than expected.

This could help avoid a vicious cycle in which high inflation expectations among U.S. households cause them to behave in ways that only make inflation worse.

Concerns about stubbornly high inflation are behind this week’s tough trading, after indexes recently set records. The weakness began after the Federal Reserve released minutes of its latest policy meeting on Wednesday. Some officials are raising the possibility of raising rates if inflation worsens.

Stocks fell further after reports Thursday indicated the U.S. economy was stronger than expected. Such a force may actually scare Wall Street, as it could maintain upward pressure on inflation.

That in turn could delay a cut in the Federal Reserve’s main interest rate, which is at its highest level in more than 20 years. The Fed is trying to pull off the difficult feat of slowing the economy enough through high interest rates to quell high inflation, but not so much that it brings the labor market to its knees.

Treasury yields climbed last week on these concerns, but they remained broadly stable Friday following the release of the consumer confidence report. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.46% from 4.48% Thursday evening. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, remains at 4.94%.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil gained 21 cents to $77.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. He gained 85 cents on Friday.

Brent crude, the international standard, added 21 cents to $82.05 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar slipped to 156.77 Japanese yen from 156.99 yen.

The euro rose from $1.0844 to $1.0851.