Tech-led Asia rallies as Fed-hike bets ease ahead of U.S. payrolls

Asian stock markets rose with technology shares leading gains after Fed official Waller eased fears of an imminent rate hike, helping spark a rally on Wall Street and raising bets that policy could stay unchanged. Nikkei advanced about 1.3% even as the yen strengthened; Hang Seng and CSI 300 also rose with AI names buoyed by OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra. Traders awaited the U.S. nonfarm payrolls for clues on the Fed’s path, while the CME FedWatch implied probability of a hike slid toward 50%. The U.S. 10-year yield eased to around 4.77% and Brent crude stayed above $95 amid ongoing energy tensions.