Seoul: Asian stock markets mostly closed higher on Tuesday, with South Korea and Japan rebounding from recent downturns attributed to significant sell-offs in artificial intelligence (AI)-related shares.
According to United News of Bangladesh, South Korea’s Kospi index surged 4.7% to reach 6,821.41, recovering from a 4.5% drop the previous day. This recovery was driven by gains in technology stocks, notably Samsung Electronics, which climbed 7.4%, and memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix, which rose 6.4%. Despite concerns over a potential AI investment bubble leading to a more than 20% decline in the past month, the Kospi remains up by over 50% this year.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 also witnessed a gain of 2.8% to 65,926.41, recovering some of its losses after reopening following a public holiday on Monday. Significant contributors to the rebound included Kioxia Holdings, which soared 15.9%, and chip testing equipment maker Advantest, up by 6.9%. Additionally, SoftBank Group advanced 6.1%, while Tokyo Electron increased by 1.3%.
Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan’s Taiex index rose 3.6%, bolstered by a 2.8% increase in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up slightly by less than 0.1% to 25,150.75, and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% to 3,819.66. Meanwhile, Australia’s S and P/ASX 200 saw a modest increase of 0.1%, while India’s Sensex slipped by 0.1%.
Oil prices saw a decline following Monday’s gains. Brent crude, a global benchmark, fell by 0.7% to $88.63 a barrel, and U.S. benchmark crude dropped 0.3% to $82.24 a barrel. These changes occurred as investors monitored developments in the Middle East, including Iran’s reported attack on another tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route. The United States continued its strikes on Iran for a tenth consecutive night, leading to ongoing retaliatory attacks from Tehran targeting U.S. allies.
Iran’s interior minister’s visit to Pakistan, which is mediating talks to ease tensions, has yet to yield a breakthrough. Analysts at ING noted potential signs of de-escalation between the United States and Iran but cautioned that significant differences remain. They also highlighted increased attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Saudi-linked shipping, raising concerns about global oil supplies.
On Wall Street, the S and P 500 fell by 0.2% on Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite slipped by less than 0.1%. Despite this, major AI and semiconductor companies showed gains, with Nvidia rising 0.2%, Micron Technology gaining 1.9%, Broadcom climbing 2%, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) advancing 1.6% following an expansion of its AI partnership with Microsoft.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar remained stable at 162.48 Japanese yen, while the euro held steady at $1.1414.