Most Asian stocks rose on Thursday, tracking overnight gains in Wall Street as investors welcomed cooling tensions over U.S. demands for Greenland, with South Korean shares outperforming and hitting a record high.
Regional markets were also underpinned by a rally in technology stocks, following upbeat comments on artificial intelligence from NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang.
Regional markets tracked an overnight bounce on Wall Street, which rebounded from steep losses this week after U.S. President Donald Trump said he will not proceed with tariffing Europe for Greenland, and that his administration had reached a framework deal on the Danish territory.
Optimism over Greenland also offset concerns over declining fiscal health in Japan, while focus shifted to an upcoming Bank of Japan interest rate decision.
S&P 500 Futures rose nearly 0.4% by 21:09 ET (02:09 GMT), as investors hoped for a de-escalation in Trump’s demands for Greenland to become a part of the United States.
South Korea’s KOSPI hits record high; Nvidia boosts chips
South Korea’s KOSPI remained the standout performer in Asia, rising over 2% to a record high of 5,019.54 points.
The KOSPI was buoyed by gains in chipmaking and automobile stocks, as investors bought into their growing potential in artificial intelligence and robotics.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) jumped between 3% and 4% amid reports that they planned to scale back some memory chip production to boost prices and their margins, as the two benefit from outsized artificial intelligence-driven demand.
Broader sentiment towards tech and AI shares was also boosted by upbeat comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. Huang touted AI for spurring the "largest infrastructure buildout in human history," and said the AI buildout was set to power on.
Hyundai Motor (KS:005380) added 1.1%, extending its strong rally and hitting a record high on continued optimism over the company’s physical AI and robotics capabilities.
Gains in chips and autos also helped investors largely look past weaker-than-expected gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter, with analysts predicting a recovery this year.
“Looking ahead, growth is set to pick up, supported by AI-related tailwinds,” ANZ analysts said in a note, adding that tech exports were expected to be a major driver. They also forecast a recovery in domestic consumer spending, especially amid strength in the stock market.
Japan’s Nikkei rebounds nearly 2%, BOJ awaited
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped nearly 2%, while the broader TOPIX added about 1% on Thursday.
Both indexes recouped a bulk of their losses from earlier in the week, with gains in major bank stocks also indicating ebbing concerns over stretched fiscal spending in the country.
Japanese tech stocks also advanced on Huang’s comments, with SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) rallying over 13%, while Nvidia supplier Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) soared nearly 5%.
Japanese government bond yields fell on Thursday after a protracted sell-down in debt markets pushed yields to multi-decade highs.
Focus is now squarely on a two-day Bank of Japan meeting, with the central bank widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Friday.
While the BOJ had raised interest rates in December, analysts expect the bank to hold rates until at least mid-2026, as it seeks more clear cues on the Japanese economy.
Separately, data on Thursday showed Japan’s trade balance unexpectedly shrank in December, as exports were dented by weak demand in the United States. But imports unexpectedly bounced last month, indicating that local demand may be picking up.
Broader Asian stocks largely advanced, with Australia’s ASX 200 rising 0.8% on gains in mining stocks. South32 Ltd (ASX:S32) jumped nearly 5% on posting strong manganese production figures for the December quarter.
But Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) slid over 4% after expectations of softer iron ore prices largely overshadowed strong commodity shipments in the quarter.
Australian jobs data read much stronger than expected for December, while the unemployment rate fell, indicating that the labor market remained tight. But labor strength also gives the Reserve Bank less impetus to cut interest rates.
Singapore’s Straits Times index added 0.5%, while for India’s Nifty 50 index rose 0.7% in morning trade. Indian shares rebounded after tumbling on a mix of trade uncertainty and as several index majors clocked weak earnings for the December quarter.
Chinese indexes lagged, with the Mainland Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes moved in a tight range, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.1%.
Source: Investing