South Korea’s Kospi Surges 16% as Chip Stocks Rally on AI Optimism

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index delivered a sharp recovery on Friday, climbing 16.8% to close at 6,531.71 as chipmaking stocks led a broad-based rally across Asian markets. The gains represented a dramatic turnaround from the index’s severe selloff earlier in the week, when mounting concerns about artificial intelligence valuations and intensifying competition from Chinese chip manufacturers triggered steep declines.

Samsung Electronics, the country’s technology flagship, surged 22.5% during the session, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix posted an even more dramatic rebound with a 27.7% jump. The resurgence in semiconductor equities reflected renewed investor appetite for AI-related technology stocks following the prior week’s volatility, which had seen the Kospi plummet more than 16% across Tuesday and Wednesday before sliding another 1.2% on Thursday to below the 5,600 level.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 also participated in the region’s upswing, climbing 5.2% to 65,072.42 in early trading Friday. SoftBank Group, the multinational investment conglomerate and OpenAI backer, surged 15.1%, while chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron advanced 10.1%, underscoring broad strength in the technology sector across Asia.

The Asian rally followed overnight gains on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 added 1.7% to 7,437.63 on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2% to 52,208.06, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2.8% to 25,122.18. Oil prices moved lower Friday, with Brent crude falling 1.1% to $85.92 per barrel.