Asian Stocks Hit Record on Chip Rally, Oil Drops: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Asian shares climbed to a record, driven by renewed momentum in technology shares and easing geopolitical tensions. Oil slipped.
MSCI’s Asian equities gauge rose 1.4% to an all-time high, with South Korean stocks — seen as a bellwether for AI investment — jumping as much as 5% to a peak. SK Hynix Inc. surged as much as 11% to top $1 trillion in market capitalization, helping a gauge of Asian semiconductor companies climb to an all-time high.
Asian gains followed a Wall Street rally that lifted the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 indexes to records on Tuesday. Chipmakers led the charge, with Micron Technology Inc. surging 19% to also top $1 trillion in market valuation.
Elsewhere, expectations for the US and Iran to sign a peace deal helped Brent crude oil edge 0.9% lower to about $98.70 a barrel. Treasuries held their gains, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year at 4.48%.
The moves underscored rising confidence in Asian chipmakers and tech firms seen as the “picks and shovels” of the AI boom. Optimism that the Middle East conflict is moving toward a resolution also helped propel global equities to fresh highs, as traders bet easing geopolitical risks could temper inflation pressures.
“Tech and AI are paying no mind to the Iran tensions,” said Andrew Jackson, head of Japan equity strategy at Ortus Advisors. Micron’s strong rally on Tuesday following a bullish analyst report is a tailwind for any memory-related stock, he added.
In geopolitical news, President Donald Trump said talks to extend a ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz are proceeding. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned that any accord would likely take a few days to finalize.
Still, security in the waterway remained unclear after the two sides exchanged strikes overnight and US Central Command pushed back on reports that suggested the military was helping escort vessels.
“Investors should be careful not to confuse progress with resolution,” said Josh Gilbert, lead analyst for Asia Pacific and the Middle East at Etoro Ltd. “Talks appear to be moving forward, and that’s positive, but we’ve seen this pattern before. The optimistic headlines have rapidly improved sentiment, but as of right now, the underlying issues remain on the table.”
In other corners of the market, the Japanese yen weakened past the 159 level against the dollar, keeping traders on alert for the risk of intervention by authorities to prop up the currency.
However, the currency is poised to strengthen against the dollar, reversing months of underperformance and threatening to upend a popular trade that relies on a weak yen, according to Eurizon SLJ Capital’s Stephen Jen.
In New Zealand, the currency gained after the central bank signaled a near-term rate hike after leaving its policy rate unchanged. Equity-index futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 index edged up 0.1%.
Meanwhile, focus in Asia is squarely on chipmakers, with SK Hynix sitting at the chokepoint of the global AI buildout.
Memory chips have emerged as a critical bottleneck determining how quickly data centers can expand capacity. Investors and analysts expect memory chip shortages to last through 2027, giving SK Hynix and rivals Samsung Electronics Co. and and Micron unusual pricing power over the world’s largest technology companies.
SK Hynix became only the third Asian company to reach a $1 trillion valuation, joining Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung, which crossed the milestone earlier this month.
Shares in SK Hynix have surged about 250% this year and Samsung 165%, helping propel South Korea’s Kospi Index to the top spot among the world’s major equity benchmarks.
“Market participants are placing their bets on peace and subsequently buying into very strong equity fundamentals,” said Kyle Rodda at Capital.com.
Corporate Highlights:
Qualcomm Inc. reached a deal with TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd. to supply chips for artificial-intelligence data centers. Xiaomi Corp.’s quarterly profit tanked more than anticipated after sharp increases in memory prices exacted a heavy toll on the Chinese firm’s smartphone business. BP Plc unexpectedly fired Chairman Albert Manifold just months into the job due to serious concerns about “governance standards, oversight and conduct,” prolonging a period of turmoil at the UK oil major. Manifold disputed accusations of wrongdoing. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 11:18 a.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix was little changed Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.4% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.2% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1637 The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.25 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7822 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $75,631.84 Ether fell 0.4% to $2,068.5 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.47% Japan’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.715% Australia’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 4.86% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.2% to $92.74 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.1% to $4,502.53 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Alice French, Carmeli Argana and Richard Henderson.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
