Jensen Huang, co-founder, president and CEO of US technology company Nvidia, gestures during a press conference on October 13, 2026 in Paris.
Joel Saget | AFP | Getty Images
Hello, my name is Hui Jie from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
While high-tech trade saw a resurgence in the United States as investors flocked to the sector, the same sentiment did not extend beyond the Pacific.
But talk of going public is very high in Asia, with companies swarming for India’s Jio IPO, and venture capitalist Jenny Lee said startups in the region are “accelerating” towards IPOs.
What you need to know today
After a week defined by investors reducing exposure to the tech sector, some investors have cautiously begun buying back.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up more than 1% in U.S. time on Monday, led by tech stocks.
Chip giant Nvidia rose 1.4% and Tesla rose 3.8%. Alphabet shares rose about 1%.
But the same sentiment didn’t seem to resonate in Asia on Tuesday. Kospi South Korea recorded the biggest loss in the region, falling by more than 4%. Japanese tech stocks also mostly fell. Nikkei Stock Average It fell 1.6%.
Germany’s Nvidia
But in Europe, Nvidia is increasing its investment in the continent’s artificial intelligence sector, revealing plans to back four German startups as the country strengthens its position in industrial AI.
The investment is part of about $10 billion in investments by the U.S. chipmaker in companies, universities and research institutes across Europe, announced at the German Investment Summit in Berlin on Monday.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the technology represents a huge opportunity for the country’s economy and called on small and medium-sized businesses to “open the door to the use of AI for data.”
“This is the real secret and the real advantage for Germany of leveraging all the data already available within the company,” Merz said.
IPO in Asia
IPO fever is gradually gaining traction in Asia, with startups reaching the initial public offering stage much faster than before, said venture capitalist Jenny Li.
Lee, senior managing partner at Granite Asia, said that while companies in the West prefer to remain a little more private, companies in Asia are leaning toward faster timelines.
“The average holding period for a company before going public is eight to 10 years,” Lee said in an interview. “But today, the late-stage companies we’re seeing are actually four or five years old and preparing for an IPO.”
The anchor investor slot for Jio Platforms’ initial public offering is more than 30 times oversubscribed in India, attracting bids from major asset managers including BlackRock, Capital Group and GIC, according to people familiar with the matter.
India’s largest telecom and digital services company, backed by Meta and Google, plans to raise up to 302 billion rupees ($3.2 billion) through the biggest IPO in India’s history in rupee terms.
— Lim Huijie
And finally…
‘You can’t play hide-and-seek’: Minister’s warning on fog sends Singapore’s agricultural stocks lower
Shares in several Singapore-listed agricultural companies fell on Tuesday after Senior Minister K. Shanmugam warned that they “will not shirk responsibility” for the role their companies could play in the fog hanging over the city-state.
“Companies cannot play hide-and-seek” with different corporate structures, Mr Shanmugam said, adding that he hoped that would help and revealed that seven companies were being questioned by the Singapore Exchange.
“We will use every legal and regulatory tool at our disposal to apply pressure where it matters, including on revenues, including access to financing, and our standing with investors,” he warned.
— Lim Huijie
