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Nikkei surges 3.9%, Kospi gains 2.8%, S&P futures up 1.2%

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) up 4.9% after-hours after forecasting revenue well

above

estimates

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Fed rate-cut odds fall with delayed jobs data in focus

By Gregor Stuart Hunter

SINGAPORE, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A relief rally swept

across Asian markets and lifted stocks in early trading on

Thursday as investors cheered Nvidia's ( NVDA ) market-topping earnings,

while the dollar rose as traders braced for the release of

delayed jobs data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

was up 0.6%, rebounding from a one-month low,

after Nvidia ( NVDA ) forecast quarterly revenue well above Wall

Street estimates on Wednesday. CEO Jensen Huang touted

blockbuster demand for its AI chips from giant cloud providers

and shrugged off concerns about an AI bubble.

S&P 500 e-mini futures rose 1.1%.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) "delivered yet another master class in AI dominance,"

said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.

Stocks on Wall Street had snapped a four-day losing streak

on Wednesday before the earnings release. All three major

indexes rebounded from the selloff as the world's most valuable

company's earnings report tempered the AI valuation fears that

had triggered the rout.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback's

strength against a basket of six major peers, advanced 0.1% to

100.17, hovering close to a two-week high.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes

rose to 4.1444% compared with its U.S. close of 4.131% on

Wednesday.

Traders are awaiting the release of September's delayed jobs

report, due for release later in the global day, to provide

clues on the Federal Reserve's next move.

Minutes from the Fed's October meeting released on Wednesday

showed it cut interest rates even as policymakers cautioned that

doing so could risk entrenched inflation and a loss of public

trust in the U.S. central bank.

Fed funds futures are pricing an implied 33% probability of

a 25-basis-point cut at the next meeting on December 10, down

from a 50% chance a day earlier, according to the CME Group's

FedWatch tool.

An updated schedule for the release of the November jobs

report, now delayed until December 16, is behind the move, said

Gavin Friend, senior markets strategist at National Australia

Bank in London.

"That's six days after the December FOMC meeting, and that's

why the 12 or 13 basis points of rate cuts that were priced in

for December, 50% or so, has been immediately evaporated," he

said on a podcast. From the market's perspective, he said, the

data fog "plays to the Fed's messaging that 'we need to pause'."

The dollar dropped 0.2% against the yen to 156.92,

after the Japanese currency reached its weakest level in ten

months during U.S. trading hours, and set a record-low against

the euro.

Against the dollar, the European single currency was

0.1% weaker on the day at $1.1530.

Brent crude was steady at $63.51 per barrel.

Cryptocurrencies retraced a recent selloff, with bitcoin

and ether both up 1.6% each.

Gold advanced 0.7% to $4,108.22 per ounce.