SEOUL, May 07 (AJP) - Japan led a broad rally across Asian markets on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 surging to a fresh all-time high as easing oil prices, renewed optimism over a possible U.S.-Iran agreement and another global surge in AI-linked semiconductor shares fueled aggressive buying across the region.
The Nikkei 225 jumped 5.6 percent to close at a record 62,833.8, while the broader TOPIX gained 3.4 percent after Japanese markets reopened following an extended holiday break.
The Nikkei had last closed at 59,513.1 on May 1 before the holiday period and has since surged 3,320.7 points through Thursday’s close. Technology shares led the advance, with SoftBank Group soaring more than 16 percent as investor appetite for AI-related stocks intensified after another powerful overnight rally on Wall Street.
The rally extended a global semiconductor surge after AMD reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, with operating income jumping about 83 percent from a year earlier while revenue climbed nearly 38 percent. The results sent AMD shares up 18 percent overnight, lifting the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index 4.5 percent. The Nasdaq rose 2.0 percent, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.5 percent to another record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also gained 1.2 percent.
Investor sentiment further improved after reports suggested the United States and Iran were moving closer to a broader de-escalation framework in the Middle East.
Brent crude fell another 2.9 percent to $98.3 a barrel, extending the previous session’s sharp decline, while West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 2.6 percent to $92.6. Lower oil prices helped ease inflation concerns and boosted appetite for risk assets across Asia.
South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI also hit another record high, though gains were more moderate compared with Japan’s explosive rally. The index closed up 1.4 percent at 7,490.1 after moving between an intraday low of 7,257.9 and a record high of 7,531.9.
Foreign investors sold a net 7.15 trillion won ($4.94 billion) worth of KOSPI shares, while retail and institutional investors bought 5.99 trillion won and 1.10 trillion won, respectively, indicating that local buying continued to absorb heavy offshore profit-taking following the market’s recent surge.
Samsung Electronics rose 2.1 percent to close at 271,500 won after hitting a record high of 277,000 won during the session, while SK hynix climbed 3.3 percent to 1,654,000 won as semiconductor shares continued to dominate market momentum. Hyundai Motor advanced 4.0 percent to 572,000 won.
Among other notable gainers, Samsung E&A surged 21.5 percent to 64,400 won, GS Engineering & Construction rose 11.0 percent to 39,350 won and SKC gained 8.0 percent to 174,100 won.
Defense and infrastructure-related stocks, however, saw sharp profit-taking after recent rallies. Hyundai Rotem plunged 10.3 percent to 235,000 won, LIG Defense & Aerospace dropped 11.5 percent to 866,000 won and Taihan Cable & Solution fell 7.4 percent to 64,100 won.
Platform and telecom shares also weakened despite solid earnings releases. SK Telecom fell 2.4 percent to 93,200 won, LG Uplus slipped 0.2 percent to 15,370 won and Kakao declined 2.3 percent to 45,250 won.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ underperformed broader markets, falling 0.9 percent to close at 1,199.2 after fluctuating between 1,196.6 and 1,219.6 during the session.
Foreign investors bought 175.7 billion won worth of KOSDAQ shares, while institutions and retail investors sold 135.0 billion won and 12.4 billion won, respectively.
Among KOSDAQ-listed names, Daehan Optical Communication jumped 19.3 percent to 21,800 won. Kolon Tujin rose 10.6 percent to 114,600 won, Jusung Engineering gained 5.9 percent to 135,100 won, Seojin System surged 14.5 percent to 68,100 won, Simtech advanced 13.5 percent to 106,500 won and Eugene Technology climbed 5.9 percent to 146,900 won.
The Korean won strengthened slightly, with the local currency rising 0.1 percent to 1,447.7 per dollar.
China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.5 percent to 4,178.9, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.5 percent to 26,617.1 in afternoon trading, supported by gains in technology shares and renewed expectations for deeper AI cooperation discussions between the United States and China ahead of a possible Trump-Xi summit.
The sharp divergence between Korea’s largest AI-linked stocks and the broader market has continued to widen. According to Bloomberg data, the total market capitalization of Korea-listed companies has surged 71 percent this year to $4.59 trillion, overtaking Canada’s roughly $4.5 trillion equity market. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have both more than doubled this year as investor demand for AI chip leaders intensified.
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