Kospi Rises 3.1% to 5,638.34 Points, Nikkei Gains 1.7% in Asia

Key Facts

South Korean and Japanese stocks closed higher on Tuesday, October 27, with the Kospi rising 3.1% to 5,638.34 points and the Nikkei 225 gaining 1.7% to 63,268.37 points, according to The Associated Press. Gains came in two markets led by technology and chip companies, as a rally tied to artificial intelligence on Wall Street renewed investor appetite for Asian equities. The agency also linked the move to expectations for major company results and central bank decisions during the week. The Kospi had closed at 5,469.47 points in the previous session, while the Nikkei ended Monday at 62,189.65 points, according to EL7 data. The session’s gains reflected continued market interest in stocks tied to demand for artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

Chip stocks were among the biggest contributors to South Korea’s advance, with SK Hynix rising 5.2% and Samsung Electronics gaining 4.2%, according to The Associated Press. In Tokyo, SoftBank Group rose 5%, while Advantest jumped 9.6%. The moves followed a 2.4% rise in Nvidia shares on Monday, when the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8%. The agency said Asian stocks advanced after a rally led by artificial intelligence shares in the U.S. market. Gains among chip-related companies add to investors’ focus on global demand for advanced computing components.

Semiconductor stocks are strong as data showed South Korea’s economy grew at an annual rate of 3.4% in the July-to-September quarter, beating expectations, according to The Associated Press. The agency reported that strong global demand for semiconductors is supporting economic growth. South Korean exports rose 2.3% in the third quarter, driven by demand for chips, machinery and electrical equipment, according to Reuters. Facility investment also increased 4.1% over the same period. The figures put chipmakers’ performance in a broader economic context, as their share gains coincide with growth in exports and facility investment.

Gains did not extend across all Asian markets in the session: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.6% to 23,077.56 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.3% to 3,648.30 points, according to The Associated Press. The strongest advances were therefore concentrated in the Kospi and Nikkei, alongside gains in chip and technology stocks in South Korea and Japan. The divergence among indexes shows that regional trading was not uniform during the session. The U.S. artificial intelligence rally was a common backdrop, while other Asian markets posted mixed performances. Corporate results and central bank decisions also remained among the week’s key events to watch.

Attention is turning first to SK Hynix’s third-quarter results, which the company plans to announce before 9 a.m. on October 28 Seoul time, with the results call scheduled to begin at 9, according to the company’s newsroom. Samsung Electronics is scheduled to hold its third-quarter results call at 10 a.m. Korea time on October 29, according to the company’s investor relations department. The dates follow gains in both companies’ shares on Tuesday, making their disclosures the next milestone in a busy week for chipmakers. More broadly, Alphabet and Microsoft were scheduled to report results on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday. The Associated Press said about one-third of S&P 500 companies were scheduled to report quarterly results during the week.

The Bank of Japan meets on October 29 and 30, with its monetary policy statement and outlook report due on October 30, according to the central bank’s schedule. The schedule did not specify when the statement would be released. The meeting puts Japanese monetary policy among the next events following the Nikkei’s Tuesday rise alongside technology stocks. It comes in a week that also brings results from major chipmakers and announcements from major U.S. companies. After the meeting, investors will have the scheduled corporate results, the bank’s statement and its outlook report, according to the published timetable.