Asian stocks rose at the open as investors took cues from a Wall Street rally on Friday, following a volatile week driven by concerns over valuations in technology stocks.

The Nikkei 225 Index surged as much as 5.7% to a record as a historic election victory by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi buoyed markets. The Kospi Index — a poster child for artificial intelligence investments — jumped over 4%. US equity-index futures advanced after the underlying gauges rose about 2% on Friday amid dip buying, while Bitcoin also recovered from its tumble. Yields on 10-year Treasuries rose almost two basis points on Monday.

Gold and silver opened the week higher, even though the precious metals are still way off their record highs. Brent crude dipped around 1% as tensions eased in the Middle East.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a record 50,000 on Friday, reflecting a shift toward cyclical stocks as investors pared exposure to technology. Monday’s rally in stocks sets up a critical week ahead, with markets gauging whether demand can broaden as scrutiny intensifies around valuations and the scale of investment tied to AI.

Traders were taking advantage of the selloff earlier last week, picking up some cheap stocks to extend the rotational trade into cyclicals and away from tech, said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG in Sydney. The Wall Street tailwind and Japan election results mean “at least for the very, very short term, we’re going to see a good risk-on session across Asian equity markets,” he added.

Meanwhile, the yen fluctuated Monday as Takaichi secured a historic election triumph. The result cleared the way for more fiscal stimulus under Takaichi, adding pressure on Japanese bonds while potentially lifting stocks. Yields on the nation’s 10-year government bond rose five basis points on Monday.
Japan’s election outcome reinforced expectations for looser fiscal policy and sustained pressure on the yen, with investors bracing for so-called Takaichi trades to dominate markets on Monday.

Mumbai: Anish Tawakley, co-chief investment officer for equities at ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co., has quit the firm. He is set to join DSP Asset Managers as its chief investment officer. Tawakley who joined ICICI in 2016 managed ICICI Prudential Large Cap Fund, ICICI Prudential Small cap Fund and ICICI Prudential business cycle fund and ICICI Prudential Minimum Variance Fund, managing a total of ₹1.07 lakh crore in assets.

ET Intelligence Group: Shares of seafood companies fell 3-7% on Friday after a sharp four-day rally that followed euphoria over the India-US trade deal announcement on February 2. Despite a better medium term outlook due to the deal, which is expected to boost marine exports from India, investors are observing caution given the near-term challenges including margin pressure amid intense competition. The sector’s outlook will hinge on how the trade negotiations progress and the American tariff stance for other seafood-exporting nations.

The trade deal between the two nations is crucial for the Indian marine exports since the US is India’s largest market with 36.3% share in FY25, according to the data from the government’s Niryat (exports) portal. In addition, frozen shrimp makes up nearly two-thirds of India’s marine shipments to the US.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) expects a lower tariff rate to improve India’s cost position relative to Ecuador, Vietnam and Indonesia. This may also help reverse the slowdown in exports seen between August and November 2025 when Indian shipments to the US sharply declined amid effective duty rates as high as 58% compared with 18-49% for other exporting countries. Ind-Ra also expects the shrimp processing industry to fare better than its earlier forecast of a 12% year-on-year revenue decline and a 150-basis points margin compression for FY26. Improved order visibility is also likely to ease working-capital pressures.

According to CareEdge, shrimp exports to the US rose 5% during the five months to August and then fell by 35% in August over July 2025, following strong frontloading of volumes ahead of higher reciprocal US tariffs. Indian exporters shifted towards other countries, but it affected profitability given that the US market generates higher value.
This is reflected in the financial performance of top marine exporters. Revenue growth for a sample of six exporters improved year-on-year for two quarters to September 2025, but margins softened, with average operating margin before depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda margin) slipping to 5.3% in the September quarter from 6.7% in the June quarter.

Though the trade deal has boosted hopes of a US market recovery, with the peak holiday season over and global demand set to soften in 2026, analysts expect the rebound to be gradual.
Shares of marine exporters jumped 6-31% on the BSE in five trading sessions since February 2, following the announcement of the India-US trade deal. Avanti Feeds and Waterbase were the top gainers, rising 31% and 27% respectively, while Sharat Industries and Coastal Corporation saw comparatively smaller gains of about 6% and 10%.