AI isn’t Asia’s only game in town: Manishi Raychaudhuri

By Manishi Raychaudhuri HONG KONG, Oct 19 (Reuters) – As doubts mount over Asia’s AI boom, some of the region’s strongest returns are building far from the hype. While tech dominates the headlines, old-economy mainstays are also key drivers of the broader market story. Technology accounts for six of Asia’s 15 best-performing market sectors in 2026 thus far. But the remaining nine tell a non-tech story anchored in financials, energy, industrials and process industries. Admittedly, some of these themes overlap with the AI capital expenditure juggernaut. For example, investments in power generation, grid infrastructure and industrial cooling are clearly being…