The rebound in Japanese and Korean chip stocks suggests last week’s midterm-driven AI sell-off is being treated as overdone, at least for now. The firmer tone in US futures supports that view, despite the hot CPI print. The surge in the KOSDAQ points to fast-money and retail positioning returning, which can reverse quickly if Nvidia disappoints next week. China’s underperformance shows the AI recovery trade is concentrated in the hardware supply chain.
—
Asia’s AI trade is finding its feet again, led by Seoul and Tokyo, with Nvidia’s results next week set to decide whether the rebound holds.
Summary:
Nikkei 225 up 0.8% to around 60,940 at the midday break, its third straight gain; Topix up about 0.8%
SoftBank Group fell about 3% after its ¥1.1 trillion quarterly loss
KOSPI up about 1.7% near 5,330; Samsung up about 2.4% and SK Hynix around 3%
KOSDAQ up around 5%, triggering its 38th sidecar of the year
Hang Seng down about 0.9%, Shanghai down about 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose about 1%
Asian technology stocks staged a broad rebound on Wednesday, with South Korea’s KOSDAQ surging around 5% and Japan’s Nikkei rising for a third straight session, as fresh AI-related data and earnings restored some confidence after last week’s sharp sell-off.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.8% to around 60,940 at the midday break, and the broader Topix gained a similar amount to about 3,925. Sentiment was helped by the Reuters Tankan, which showed manufacturers’ confidence at its highest in more than five years on booming chip demand. Overnight AI news also helped. CoreWeave (earnings here , more here ) said it expects to become profitable on an adjusted basis in the first half of 2028, and the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI’s quarterly revenue rose about 50% to $10 billion, although the company is still posting steep operating losses.
SoftBank Group was a notable exception, falling about 3% after swinging to a quarterly net loss of about ¥1.1 trillion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the Nikkei by roughly two to one. A strategist at a Japanese brokerage said strong results from Nvidia next week could ease concerns about AI and chip earnings and help lift Japan’s AI-related shares.
Seoul reversed early losses. The KOSPI rose about 1.7% to around 5,330 in afternoon trade, led by chip and defence stocks, with Samsung Electronics up about 2.4% and SK Hynix around 3%. Defence names including Korea Aerospace Industries climbed around 7%.
The rally was sharper in the tech-heavy KOSDAQ, which rose around 5% to near 700. That triggered a five-minute suspension of program buy orders, the KOSDAQ’s 38th sidecar this year and its 21st on the buy side, after the KOSDAQ 150 index jumped more than 6%.
Greater China lagged. The Hang Seng fell about 0.9%, while the Shanghai Composite eased around 0.2%.
US index futures firmed after Tuesday’s losses on hotter-than-expected inflation data, with Nasdaq 100 futures up about 1% and S&P 500 futures up around 0.5%.
The focus now shifts to Nvidia’s results next week, which are likely to set the tone for AI stocks across the region.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.
