Kospi jumps 3.1% as AI stock gains broaden across Asia
Key Facts
South Korea’s Kospi closed 3.1% higher at 5,638.34 points on October 27, after rising more than 4% during the session, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.7% to 63,268.37 points. The gains came as Anthropic’s filing for a U.S. public offering boosted risk appetite ahead of technology company results and central bank meetings that could influence interest rate expectations, Reuters reported. But the move did not extend across the region: the Hang Seng fell 0.7% to 23,041.32 points, and the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.3% to 3,648.30 points at the close. The Associated Press attributed Tokyo and Seoul’s gains to buying in AI-related stocks. Other supportive factors coincided with the move, including Meta’s plan to raise up to 95 billion dollars, Reuters reported.
Chip and testing-equipment stocks featured among the shares leading the advance. SK Hynix rose 5.2% and Samsung Electronics gained 4.2%, while Japan’s Advantest jumped 9.6% and SoftBank Group climbed 5%, according to the Associated Press. The moves reflect broader demand for companies tied to AI infrastructure in Seoul and Tokyo, but do not establish that Anthropic’s filing alone drove each stock’s gains. Reuters reported that U.S. chip stocks rose 2.8% in the previous overnight session, their biggest one-day advance in a month, while Nasdaq futures then gained 0.4%. The move in U.S. shares provided a supportive backdrop for Asian stocks, alongside news about offerings and AI spending.
On October 26, Anthropic filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering. The company said it intends to list its Class A shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “ANT,” but did not specify the number of shares to be offered or the price range. It added that the registration statement had not yet become effective, so the securities may not be sold and offers to buy them may not be accepted before it becomes effective. The company’s filing, according to the Associated Press, cited revenue of more than 16 billion dollars in the first half of 2026, about 14 times revenue in the same period a year earlier. In the same period, the company recorded a net loss of 80.7 billion dollars, which included a one-time accounting charge of 72.4 billion dollars related to financing agreements.
Those figures put the anticipated offering at the center of investor debate over the pace of AI revenue growth and the cost of financing its expansion. Reuters quoted an investment official as saying the offering’s outcome would be “an indication of how enduring support for capital spending on AI development is.” Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, also said a successful offering “could open or close the IPO market through 2027.” By contrast, a Reuters report said some current and prospective investors valued Anthropic at about 1.5 trillion dollars, compared with earlier expectations close to 2 trillion dollars after the company disclosed some of its financial information at an investor event. Those estimates come as attention turns to results from major technology companies, including those investing heavily in data centers and AI.
On the corporate front, SK Hynix was scheduled to report third-quarter results on Wednesday, October 28, with Samsung Electronics due to report the following day, according to the Associated Press. More than a third of S&P 500 companies were scheduled to report results during the week of October 26, including Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon, Reuters reported. These announcements will provide further indications of the technology sector’s performance as markets monitor companies’ ability to continue funding their expansion. In China, traders were watching for possible announcements from a closed-door meeting of senior leaders of the ruling Communist Party in Beijing. That interest came as Hong Kong and mainland shares posted losses at the close.
Monetary policy decisions remain in focus in the days ahead: the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting was scheduled for October 27 and 28, with a press conference on October 28. The Bank of Japan’s schedule showed its next monetary policy meeting would take place on October 29 and 30, with a monetary policy statement and outlook report on economic activity and prices due on October 30. Investors are watching the central bank meetings for their impact on interest rate expectations, alongside the corporate earnings season. Near-term results from Asian chip companies remain an important event for markets after their shares advanced. Earnings data and guidance related to semiconductor demand will be among the week’s key milestones.