Feb 12 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian

markets.

Asian markets on Wednesday will be looking to claw back

Tuesday's broad losses but will face headwinds from a sluggish

performance on Wall Street, higher U.S. bond yields and

persistent nervousness around escalating global trade tensions.

In testimony to Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed

the U.S. central bank is in no rush to cut interest rates. His

upbeat view of the economy and willingness to continue shrinking

the Fed's balance sheet weighed on U.S. equity and bond prices,

which could temper risk appetite in Asia.

Deep uncertainty around the U.S. tariffs on steel and

aluminum imports announced by President Donald Trump on Monday,

and what lies next in the brewing global trade war, may also

keep investors on the defensive.

This is partly being reflected in gold's relentless rise to

new highs within sight of $3,000 an ounce. Fear over the

inflationary impact of a global trade war isn't the only reason

bullion is up 10% this year, but it's a big one.

Japanese markets reopen after Tuesday's National Day

holiday, and if there's a domestic driver for stocks on

Wednesday it could be Softbank's results.

The technology investment conglomerate is expected to post

quarterly net profit of 234 billion yen ($1.54 billion) but

analysts are keen to know whether the firm's recent flurry of

artificial intelligence-related investments will help or hurt

its bottom line.

Softbank has agreed with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to set up a

joint venture in Japan, is committing $15 billion to the

Stargate project, and has pledged to invest up to $100 billion

in AI projects in the U.S. over four years.

This comes amid an extraordinarily volatile time in AI -

China's DeepSeek rocked world markets last month, and on Monday

a consortium led by Elon Musk said it had offered $97.4 billion

to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI.

U.S. tech stocks are holding their ground - the Nasdaq and

'FAANG' index are up 2% and 5% so far this year, respectively -

but Asian tech stocks are flying - Hong Kong's Hang Seng tech

index is up 14% year to date.

Hedge funds have probably been active here. According to

Goldman Sachs, they have been aggressive buyers of Chinese

stocks this year, especially since the emergence of homegrown AI

startup DeepSeek stoked investor enthusiasm.

And on Monday, a securities filing from billionaire hedge

fund manager David Tepper's Appaloosa Management showed that the

firm substantially increased its holdings of Chinese tech giants

Alibaba and JD in the fourth quarter of last year.

Remember, it was in response to Beijing's initial economic

stimulus and market support measures in September that Tepper

said he would buy "everything" on China. He still seems just as

bullish.

Here are key developments that could provide more direction

to Asian markets on Wednesday:

- Softbank results (Q3)

- India inflation (January)

- India industrial production (December)