(Updates markets, adds China, oil)

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Nikkei surges 4.2%, Kospi gains 3.3%, S&P futures up 1.2%

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) up 5.1% 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 ticked up as traders braced for the release of

delayed jobs data.

Tech-heavy markets Japan, South Korea and Taiwan led the

rally after Nvidia ( NVDA ) CEO Jensen Huang touted blockbuster

demand for its AI chips from giant cloud providers and shrugged

off concerns about an AI bubble.

The remarks were backed by the world's most valuable

company's forecast quarterly revenue well above Wall Street

estimates, quelling some of the AI valuation fears that had

triggered a rout in markets over recent sessions.

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

said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.

That sentiment was echoed in major regional markets.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 soared as much as 4.2%, Korean stocks

jumped 3.3%, and the Taiwanese market rallied

3.4% as tech manufacturers in the AI supply chain made big

gains.

TSMC rose 4.3%, Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF )

advanced 5.1%, SK Hynix jumped 4.5%, and Tokyo

Electron ( TOELF ) surged 5.4%.

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

was up 1.2%, rebounding from a one-month low,

while S&P 500 e-mini futures rose 1.3%.

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

on Wednesday before Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings release as investors

questioned whether the AI valuation concerns were overblown.

In Asia, the Chinese market bucked the trend, with Hong

Kong's Hang Seng Index off 0.1% and a gauge of mainland stocks

erasing an earlier gain of 0.7% to trade flat.

Earlier in the day, the People's Bank of China left

benchmark lending rates unchanged for the sixth straight month.

Traders had expected the on-hold rates decision, though worries

about weakness in China's economic recovery have stoked market

calls for more stimulus.

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

strength against a basket of six major peers, advanced 0.2% to

100.3, hovering close to a two-week high.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes

edged up just shy of a basis point to 4.1405% 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 rose 0.2% against the yen to 157.48, after

the Japanese currency reached its weakest level in ten months

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

.

The yen has weakened steadily since Prime Minister Sanae

Takaichi was elected leader of her party, losing more than 6% of

its value and defying a rise in Japanese yields on unease about

the scale of borrowing needed to fund her stimulus plans.

Against the dollar, the European single currency was

0.2% weaker on the day at $1.1517.

Brent crude rose 0.5% to $63.80 per barrel as

markets assessed the latest U.S. proposals to end the war in

Ukraine and prepared for a U.S. deadline to cease operations

with two major Russian oil firms.

Cryptocurrencies retraced a recent selloff, with bitcoin

and ether both up around 2% each.

Precious metals markets were choppy, with spot gold

last down 0.6% at $4,055.19 after earlier rising as much as

0.7%.