Technology and semiconductor stocks across Asia posted broad gains this week, extending a rally that has been powered largely by continued strong demand tied to artificial intelligence hardware.
In South Korea, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the two heavyweight stocks on the Kospi index, rose 5.68 percent and 8.26 percent respectively. Both companies are major producers of memory chips that go into the servers powering large AI systems, and demand for that memory has remained a central theme for investors in the sector this year. In Japan, SoftBank advanced 11.22 percent, reflecting the conglomerate's heavy exposure to AI-related investments, while Advantest, which makes equipment used to test semiconductors, added 4.20 percent.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 edged higher to 9,010.90, supported by the broader tech advance, while trading in Greater China was more mixed: Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.85 percent even as mainland China's CSI 300 index closed 0.59 percent higher. The divergence highlights how, even within a broad regional rally, individual markets can move in different directions depending on local factors and which companies dominate each index.
The rally comes against a backdrop of continued heavy investment worldwide in AI infrastructure, from data centers to the specialized chips that run them, a trend that has repeatedly lifted shares of memory and equipment makers over the past two years. European markets, by contrast, opened the same trading week on a softer note, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index slipping slightly, underscoring that the AI-linked strength has so far been most visible in Asian markets.
Investors will watch whether the momentum in AI-linked chip demand carries into upcoming earnings reports from major technology and semiconductor companies.
Why are memory chipmakers rallying?
Samsung and SK Hynix make the memory chips widely used in servers that power artificial intelligence systems, and demand for that memory has been a major theme for investors this year.
Is this rally happening everywhere?
No, it has been concentrated mostly in Asian markets this week, while European stocks opened the same week on a softer note.