Asia report: AI and chip stocks provide a boost in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei

(Sharecast News) - Stock markets across Asia finished mostly higher on Wednesday, with AI and chip stocks powering solid gains, though shares in Hong Kong slipped into the red.

Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.3%, with blue chips Advantest, Kioxia and Tokyo Electron all on the rise. Limiting upside was SoftBank as the stock pulled back following a sharp rise on Tuesday after its quarterly results.

South Korea's KOSPI rose 2.6% on the back of strong gains from SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Taiwans' TAIEX also climbed 3.6%, with chipmaker TSMC providing a big boost.

Sentiment was lifted overnight by a positive reaction to results from American AI data centre outfit CoreWeave, with a near-170% year-on-year surge in revenues easing recent concerns about an AI slowdown.

"Asia-Pacific bourses followed Wall Street's lead, lifting the MSCI Asia Pacific Index 1.6% to log its strongest two-day advance in over three months," said Patrick Munnelly, partner of market strategy at Tickmill Group.

"The bid demonstrates that institutional capital remains eager to buy the dip across the digital infrastructure complex, as monetisation milestones validate the narrative."

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index finished 1.0% lower, with analysts pointing to concerns about higher US interest rates following a stronger-than-expected inflation print Stateside on Tuesday. Heavyweights Tencent, Meituan, NetEase, BYD and Li Auto all declined.

Hong Kong's local currency is pegged to the US dollar, meaning that local interest rates typically track US rates closely. As such, a rate hike by the Fed could put pressure on property valuations, financing costs and corporate profitability on home shores.

Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%, the Strait Times Index rose 0.6% and the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%.