Morning Highlights: Brent back above $100, OpenAI changes strategy, Nvidia helped markets

Brent crude oil prices jumped 3.8% amid continued uncertainty surrounding the US-led coalition to secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Asia-Pacific markets rose on Tuesday, March 17, thanks in part to momentum from new Nvidia forecasts and partnerships. OpenAI is preparing a U-turn on code and business products. These and other topics are in our roundup of key events for the morning of March 17.

Shares of automakers and technology companies in Asia-Pacific markets rose after Nvidia announced a strong revenue forecast for its key chips, as well as partnerships with automakers from the region, CNBC writes . According to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, orders for Blackwell and Vera Rubin chips will reach $1 trillion by 2027.

Quotes of South Korea's SK Hynix, which supplies the U.S. manufacturer with memory chips, as well as Samsung Electronics, a longtime partner of Nvidia, rose more than 3% and 4%, respectively. The securities of Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, which produces advanced AI-GPU for Nvidia, rose 1%.

Shares of automakers Hyundai Motor, Nissan Motor and Isuzu, as well as China's BYD and Geely, rose after Nvidia announced a partnership with these companies for its autonomous car business. Hyundai Motor added 4.7% in value, while Geely added 5%.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled new products at the GTC conference, noted the surge in demand for AI computing, and separately announced that the company is starting to actively make conventional, server-side processors (CPUs) as well - an area where it intends to compete with Intel. Nvidia is also rolling out technology from startup Groq, expanding partnerships with IBM, Adobe and Uber, and preparing new generations of products, including the Vera CPU.

Oil prices resumed growth after a brief decline: futures for Mark Brent jumped by 3.8% and approached $104 per barrel, WTI - to $98 amid continuing uncertainty around the US-led coalition, which should ensure the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz for tankers, notes CNBC. Bloomberg also recalls Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, including fields and ports in the UAE and Iraq.

The conflict increases risks for supplies: traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is almost stopped, which already affects the market, especially in Asia, the agency writes. Since the beginning of the war, oil prices have risen by more than 40%, despite the US attempts to stabilize prices at the expense of reserves. At the same time, the countries of the region are reducing production and looking for bypass routes for exports.

OpenAI is preparing a major shift in strategy and plans to focus on programming and business tools, abandoning the "do it all at once" approach, The Wall Street Journal reports. The company's management, including Sam Altman, is now choosing which areas to cut, and employees may be told of the changes in the coming weeks, the Journal has learned.

The decision is due to increased competition, primarily from Anthropic, whose code and business products are rapidly gaining popularity. Unlike OpenAI, this company relies on a narrow focus, the publication notes.

Alibaba is creating a new Alibaba Token Hub division that will combine Qwen model development, AI applications, products and services under the leadership of CEO Eddie Wu, Bloomberg writes. The goal is to accelerate the work of teams and focus on AI monetization, including the development of enterprise solutions and cloud services.

The company will also launch a new Wukong AI service for businesses and strengthen integration with products like DingTalk and Taobao. The restructuring comes amid competition and AI revenue challenges in China, where users are reluctant to pay for subscriptions, and following the departure of key model developer Qwen.

The head of Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav may earn more than $667 million on the sale of the media company Paramount Skydance, reports Bloomberg. This amount includes severance pay, already accrued shares and bonuses that will be activated at the closing of the deal. Zaslav has already sold $113 million worth of securities, the agency notes.

Additionally, the top manager may be reimbursed up to $335 million in taxes, but the amount will decrease if the deal is delayed. The purchase of Warner Bros. is valued at $110 billion and is still awaiting regulatory and shareholder approval.

- Japan's broad Topix index was up 0.3 percent, while the Nikkei 225 was down 0.1 percent.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.2 percent, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index added 0.1 percent.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index jumped 2.5%, while the Kosdaq was almost unchanged.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 percent.

- Futures on major U.S. stock indexes fell 0.5%.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor