(Sharecast News) - Asia-Pacific markets advanced on Wednesday, with South Korea and Japan hitting record highs after a tech-led rally on Wall Street eased concerns about artificial intelligence-driven disruption in parts of the software sector.
Overnight in the US, equities rose, led by gains in chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices and software stocks.
AMD surged 8.8% after Meta Platforms announced a multiyear deal to deploy up to six gigawatts of AMD graphics processing units for AI data centres and said it would invest through a performance-based warrant for up to 160 million shares.
The move came a week after Meta said it was using millions of Nvidia chips in its data centre buildout.
Shares of Nvidia rose 0.7%.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said: "Asia walked in this morning with a simple message: when Wall Street ricochets, you either duck or you buy the momentum. Today, they bought it hand over fist.
"The rebound in US equities washed straight across the Pacific. The schizophrenic tape around AI has become an accepted reality.
"In one session, it is an extinction-level disruption; in the next, it is orchestration and integration.
"Traders have stopped arguing theology and started trading momentum. Asian equity markets leaned into the relief momentum."
Tokyo, Seoul join AI-fuelled rally
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 2.2% to 58,583.12, a record high, while the broader Topix added 0.71% to 3,843.16.
Mitsui Kinzoku jumped 8.17%, Sumitomo Metal Mining gained 7.77% and Screen Holdings advanced 7.57%.
Innes said the rally reflected a reassessment of the AI displacement narrative.
"The real driver of the bounce was not blind optimism. It was the realisation that the AI displacement narrative had sprinted too far ahead of the compute runway.
"The catastrophe scenarios around white-collar employment look cinematic, but silicon does not scale on sentiment alone.
"Compute constraints remain real. Hallucination rates remain elevated. And history is littered with technological forecasts that promised straight-line revolutions and delivered uneven evolution instead."
He added: "Which is why North Asia looks so comfortable. South Korea, Taiwan and Japan are not debating whether AI destroys jobs.
"They are shipping the equipment that powers it. Capex is their earnings.
"The Kospi is up nearly 5% this week and 44% year to date. Taiwan is printing similar momentum.
"The Nikkei has climbed 15 percent in 2026 and is enjoying a full narrative re-rating around governance and earnings."
South Korea's Kospi 100 rose 1.94% to 6,951.41, also marking a fresh peak.
Korea Zinc surged 13.04%, Kia Corporation rallied 12.7% and Hyundai Engineering & Construction gained 12.06%.
China equities also in the green
Chinese markets also finished higher.
The Shanghai Composite rose 0.72% to 4,147.23, with Inner Mongolia BaoTou Steel Union Co up 10.15%, Saurer Intelligent Technology gaining 10.1% and Guizhou Chitianhua adding 10.07%.
The Shenzhen Component advanced 1.29% to 14,475.86.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index increased 0.66% to 26,765.72.
Haidilao International climbed 6.19%, HSBC Holdings rose 5.47% and Longfor Properties added 4.6%.
Sydney rises as Australian inflation keeps steady
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.17% to 9,128.30, supported by a 14.04% jump in ARB Corporation, a 12.97% rise in Woolworths and a 12.62% advance in DroneShield.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed consumer prices rose 3.8% year-on-year in January, unchanged from December, while monthly inflation eased to 0.4% from 1%.
The trimmed mean measure of core inflation edged up to 3.4% annually from 3.3%.
New Zealand underperformed, with the S&P/NZX 50 slipping 0.05% to 13,525.58.
Serko fell 7.32%, Pacific Edge declined 4.26% and Chorus dropped 4.02%.
Dollar mixed regionally as oil prices firm
In currency markets, the dollar was last up 0.47% on the yen to trade at JPY 156.60, while it fell 0.44% against the Aussie to AUD 1.4106 and eased 0.11% on the Kiwi to change hands at NZD 1.6744.
Oil prices were firmer, with Brent crude futures last up 0.35% on ICE at $71.02 per barrel, and the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate rising 0.27% to $65.81.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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