Asia-Pacific markets set to track Wall Street rally
The city skyline is seen with the landmark Taipei 101 building from a lookout point on Elephant Mountain in Taipei on April 14, 2025. (Photo: I-Hwa Cheng / AFP) (Photo: I-HWA CHENG/AFP via Getty Images)
I-hwa Cheng | Afp | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday, breaking ranks on Wall Street with gains supported by chip and bank stocks.
US semiconductor stocks lead gains after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc. It delivered another record quarter by saying it expects to increase capital spending to between $52 billion and $56 billion in 2026.
Investors in Asia are watching chip-related stocks after the United States reached a trade deal with Taiwan. As part of the deal, Taiwanese semiconductor companies agreed to invest at least $250 billion in U.S. manufacturing capacity in exchange for lower “reciprocal” tariffs.
of japan Nikkei 225 It continued its losses since Thursday, losing 0.52%, while the broad-based Topix lost 0.57%. Softbank Group, which invests in a variety of chip-related stocks including chip designer Arm, gained 1.04%.
South Korea’s kospi It was up 0.3%, while small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.59%. Chip heavyweight Samsung Electronics gained 1.11%, while SK Hynix lost 0.27%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.22%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures settled at 27,150, above the HSI’s last close of 26,923.62.
Overnight in the USA, Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.60%, S&P 500 gained 0.26% and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.25%.
US bank stocks also rose following the latest quarterly gains. Goldman Sachs It rose more than 4% after fourth-quarter profit beat Wall Street forecasts.
Morgan Stanley It rose nearly 6% after its asset management unit added to revenue and profit margins in the fourth quarter. Both stocks hit 52-week highs.
This rise also came with solid economic data. Unemployment claims data for the week ending Jan. 10 came in at 198,000; That was below the 215,000 figure economists polled by Dow Jones expected.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
