Co-founder, President and CEO of US technology company Nvidia, Jensen Huang, gestures during a press briefing in Paris on Oct. 13, 2026.
Joel Saget | AFP | Getty Images
Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC's Daily Open.
The tech trade staged a comeback as investors pile into the sector in the U.S., but the same sentiment did not cross the Pacific.
However, public listings are very much on the table in Asia, with firms jostling for a piece of India's Jio IPO and venture capitalist Jenny Lee saying that startups in the region were 'speeding' toward IPOs.
What you need to know today
After a week defined by investors trimming exposure to the tech sector, some have cautiously begun to buy back in.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced more than 1% on Monday stateside, with tech leading the charge.
Chip heavyweight Nvidia added 1.4%, and Tesla jumped 3.8%. Alphabet shares advanced about 1%.
However, the same sentiment did not seem to carry over to Asia on Tuesday, with the tech-heavy Kospi in South Korea leading losses in the region and down over 4%. Japanese tech stocks were also mostly lower, with the Nikkei 225 down 1.6%.
Nvidia in Germany
In Europe, however, Nvidia is increasing its investments in the continent's artificial intelligence sector, unveiling plans to back four German startups as the country pushes to strengthen its position in industrial AI.
The investments are part of the U.S. chipmaker's nearly $10 billion commitment to invest in companies, universities and research institutions across Europe, as announced at the Invest in Germany Summit in Berlin on Monday.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who described the technology as a major opportunity for the country's economy, told small and medium enterprises to "please open your doors for AI to make use of your data."
"This is a real secret and a real advantage for Germany to make use of all the data which is already available in our companies," Merz said.
IPOs in Asia
IPO fever is slowly getting some attention in Asia, where newly formed companies are reaching the initial public offering stage far sooner than they used to, according to venture capitalist Jenny Lee.
In the West, companies like to stay private a little longer, but Asian firms are leaning toward a more accelerated timeline, according to Lee, senior managing partner at Granite Asia.
"On average the holding period before a company goes public is eight to 10 years," Lee said in an interview. "But currently, the later stage companies we are seeing are actually preparing for IPOs when they are four to five years old."
Over in India, Jio Platforms has seen the anchor investor quota for its initial public offering oversubscribed more than 30 times, according to a source familiar with the matter, drawing bids from top asset managers including BlackRock, Capital Group and GIC.
The country's largest telecommunications and digital services company, backed by Meta and Google, plans to raise up to 302 billion rupees ($3.2 billion) through India's largest ever IPO in rupee terms.
— Lim Hui Jie
And finally...
‘Cannot play hide and seek’: Minister’s warning over haze sends Singapore agricultural stocks lower
Shares of several Singapore-listed agricultural companies fell Tuesday after Senior Minister K Shanmugam warned they won't "escape responsibility" for their possible role in the haze blanketing the city-state.
"Companies cannot play hide and seek" with different corporate structures, hoping that will help them, Shanmugam said, revealing that seven companies had been questioned by the Singapore Exchange.
"We will use every legal and regulatory lever at our disposal to exert pressure where it matters, including on their bottom lines, including on their access to financing, and including on their standing with investors," he warned.
— Lim Hui Jie