Technology stocks lead Asian gains with support from Wall Street and Anthropic's IPO plan

The Italian company Edison said on Tuesday that Qatar Energy Company will not be able to deliver liquefied natural gas shipments to it until the end of next December.

In a message published on the GME platform - the body responsible for managing energy markets in Italy - Edison explained that Qatar Energy had informed it of the extension of the “force majeure” situation related to liquefied natural gas shipments, after the suspension was scheduled to end early in December.

Edison indicated that three additional shipments of liquefied natural gas, which were intended for the Italian company - which is one of Qatar's largest customers in Europe - will be affected by this suspension.

Qatar Energy had first notified Edison of the cancellation of LNG shipments in April, following trade disruptions and damage to LNG facilities in Qatar as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran that broke out in late February.

Edison has a long-term contract with Qatar Energy to supply 6.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually to Italy, which represents about 10 percent of the country’s total consumption. It is noteworthy that this contract, which entered into force in 2009, extends for a total period of 25 years.

Shares of technology companies rose on Tuesday, following the strong gains on Wall Street, after investors welcomed the filing of an application by Anthropic, a company specializing in artificial intelligence, to offer its shares for public subscription, in a move that restored optimism in the sector after its performance faltered during the second half of the year.

But the gains were mainly concentrated in South Korea and Japan, while Asian and European stock markets recorded mixed performance, with investors anticipating a series of corporate business results and important central bank decisions during the current week.

Anthropic, one of the most prominent artificial intelligence companies in the world, announced in its stock offering filing that its revenues during the first half of the year had increased by about 1,300 percent on an annual basis, but it also warned of safety risks. The offering is seen as an important test of the extent to which the artificial intelligence boom can generate profits.

The company said that its business could be harmed “if the use of our artificial intelligence models results in harm, whether as a result of their use by malicious parties or misuse by third parties, or if the controls and preventive mechanisms we adopt fail to prevent this use.”

In energy markets, oil prices stabilized after falling on Monday, coinciding with senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan holding talks with Iran, in an attempt to prevent renewed war in the Middle East, while Tehran described the discussions as “very good.” A statement by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that officials from the three countries that signed the “Mecca Agreement” went to Iran as part of efforts aimed at “reducing the escalation between the parties to the current crisis.”

Snowflake, the American company specializing in data technologies and artificial intelligence, announced expected investments worth $300 million in its operations in Saudi Arabia until 2030, coinciding with the opening of its regional headquarters for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa in Riyadh. Investment plans include launching two new cloud regions in Saudi Arabia during the second half of 2026, to support data localization and sovereignty requirements.