SK Hynix, Samsung gain as Asian stocks climb after tech powers Wall Street

ASIAN stocks climbed as the latest advances in artificial intelligence fuelled optimism over accelerating technology investment and stronger semiconductor demand.

MSCI’s gauge of Asian shares rose 1 per cent, heading for a fifth day of gains. Chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were among the top contributors to its advance, tracking a rally in Wall Street peers fuelled by early signs of success for Meta Platforms’ new AI agent.

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi Index jumped 1.8 per cent while Taiwan’s stock index hit an intraday record.

Among the main moves across markets, S&P 500 futures were little changed as at 12 pm Tokyo time.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.6 per cent, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3 per cent and Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.3 per cent.

Sentiment toward the tech sector got another boost on Tuesday (Sep 22) as Alibaba said it was rolling out what it calls China’s most powerful AI chip, an accelerator to compete with Nvidia and underpin a massive expansion of data centre capacity in coming years.

Shares of Alibaba and Tencent Holdings rallied in Hong Kong.

S&P 500 futures were steady while contracts for the Nasdaq 100 edged up 0.3 per cent after US indices capped their best sessions since early August on Monday.

Elsewhere in markets, Brent crude rose about 1 per cent to trade around US$101 a barrel after falling for four straight sessions.

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“The most meaningful catalyst appears to be the release of Meta’s new AI chatbot, which has been met with strong demand and resurfaced optimism about the growth outlook for the so-called AI trade,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com.

“Signs of strong AI demand should improve sentiment throughout the AI ecosystem, especially chips, which ought to filter through to pockets of the Asian tech sector.”

The latest newsflow helped bolster investor sentiment after recent calls by top AI firms in the US to slow the pace of development had raised concerns about growth in the sector.

An index of US semiconductor stocks rallied over 4 per cent on Monday as optimism over Meta’s AI agent revived enthusiasm around demand for the chips needed to power such agents. Meta surged 11 per cent, while Advanced Micro Devices topped US$1 trillion in market value.

Meanwhile, in currencies, the won led gains in Asia on Tuesday while a broad gauge of the US dollar was little changed.

Bitcoin fell about 1.5 per cent. The cryptocurrency surged more than 7 per cent to climb above US$87,000 on Monday as investors rushed back into riskier assets. Markets in Japan remained shut for holidays.

Trump-Xi summit

Investors are also gearing up for the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Officials from the two sides wrapped up their second day of talks in New York on Monday to discuss AI, investment and trade as they sought to advance negotiations ahead of Xi’s visit to the US this week.

“All eyes will be on the Trump-Xi meeting in Washington on Thursday, with trade, AI and geopolitics seen dominating the agenda,” Roman Ziruk, lead FX strategist at Ebury, wrote in a note.

“Given increasing geopolitical uncertainty worldwide, keeping the world’s two dominant economies on speaking terms has rarely mattered more.”

Developments in the Middle East remained firmly in focus as traders assessed whether diplomacy and increased Saudi exports could extend oil’s retreat.

Satellite data showed Saudi Arabia’s observed oil loadings from inside the Persian Gulf jumped over the weekend, with the highest number of ships seen at the nation’s main Persian Gulf port since June.

Trump is set to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York later on Tuesday, and may meet with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, on the sidelines.

His administration has also proposed a US$5 billion fund to help rebuild critical infrastructure across the Middle East damaged in the ongoing war with Iran.

A gauge of global stocks was up for a fourth day, heading for its longest winning streak since early August.

“A lot of times over the last year or so, we have seen investors question the strength of this AI rally and the sustainability of it,” said Clive Maguchu, a senior strategist at State Street Investment Management.

“Every so often we get news that reinforces the fact that demand is still there.” BLOOMBERG