Asian technology stocks surged on Wednesday after a powerful rally on Wall Street, where strong corporate earnings, easing oil prices and renewed optimism over artificial intelligence spending drove major U.S. stock indexes to fresh record highs.
Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group led the regional advance, soaring nearly 14%, while semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest climbed 8.77%. Chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron gained 3.26%, and memory chipmaker Kioxia added 4.24%.
The gains extended across Asia’s semiconductor sector. In South Korea, SK Hynix rose 5.77%, Samsung Electronics advanced more than 2.5%, and Seoul Semiconductor jumped 6.73%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, climbed 3.66%.
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The broad-based rally denotes improving investor confidence in the outlook for AI-related companies after another round of strong earnings from major U.S. technology firms reinforced expectations that spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure remains intact.
Technology stocks across Asia have experienced heightened volatility in recent weeks, particularly in South Korea, where the semiconductor-heavy market has swung sharply between steep declines and record gains as investors reassess AI valuations, geopolitical risks and the sustainability of massive capital spending on data centers and advanced chips.
Andrew Jackson, strategist at Ortus Advisors, said the latest rally in U.S. semiconductor shares strengthened the investment case for Asian AI-related companies. In a note on Wednesday, Jackson said the overnight surge in U.S. chipmakers and AI infrastructure suppliers spurred a bullish outlook for semiconductor manufacturers and companies supplying the AI ecosystem across Asia.
He also expects SoftBank to extend its gains after Arm Holdings, the British chip designer in which SoftBank holds a majority stake, rallied overnight on optimism surrounding higher AI-related royalties from data centers and expanding plans to develop central processing units (CPUs) for AI applications. Arm has emerged as one of the key beneficiaries of the global AI boom as demand accelerates for energy-efficient chip architectures used in cloud computing, AI servers and edge devices.
The gains followed a strong session on Wall Street, where all three major U.S. indexes advanced, led by technology shares.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at fresh record highs, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 2.59% to 26,584.99 as investors welcomed another round of upbeat earnings and signs that geopolitical risks in the Middle East could ease. Among the standout performers, data analytics company Palantir Technologies jumped more than 29%, adding to optimism surrounding AI software companies benefiting from rising enterprise and government spending.
Investor sentiment also improved after oil prices extended their decline, easing concerns that elevated energy costs could undermine economic growth and corporate profitability.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday that Washington and Tehran could reach an agreement within days to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes. A reopening would help restore normal energy exports following months of disruption linked to the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
Lower crude prices have become an important tailwind for equity markets, reducing inflationary pressures, improving corporate cost outlooks and strengthening expectations that central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, may avoid additional monetary tightening.
However, Asian technology stocks have become sensitive to developments in the U.S. AI sector because many of the region’s largest companies occupy critical positions in the global semiconductor supply chain. Firms including TSMC, SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, Tokyo Electron, Advantest and SoftBank’s Arm supply advanced chips, manufacturing equipment and processor designs that underpin AI data centers and next-generation computing systems.
Recent earnings from major U.S. hyperscalers, including Amazon, Microsoft and Meta Platforms, have reassured investors that multi-billion-dollar investments in AI infrastructure remain on track, supporting demand across the semiconductor industry. That has bolstered expectations that Asian chipmakers and equipment suppliers will remain among the biggest beneficiaries of the global AI spending cycle.