Asian stocks extended their rally on Friday, led by strong gains in technology and chipmaker shares, as investors tracked Wall Street’s record highs and growing confidence in a Federal Reserve rate cut next week.
Hong Kong and South Korea outperformed regional peers, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged to a fresh record high despite ongoing political turmoil.
On Thursday, all three major U.S. indexes closed at record highs, powered by renewed optimism in the tech sector and artificial intelligence. Investors also digested mixed U.S. economic data that strengthened speculation of a Fed rate cut at its September policy meeting. As of early Friday, U.S. stock futures were little changed.
Tech Stocks Lead Asian Gains
South Korea’s KOSPI index jumped 1.3%, boosted by SK Hynix (KS:000660), which soared nearly 6% to a record high after confirming the completion of its next-generation HBM4 high-bandwidth memory chip and plans for mass production. The chip, designed for AI applications, offers double the bandwidth and over 40% better power efficiency than its predecessor.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 1.6%, with the Hang Seng TECH sub-index advancing 2.5%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose more than 1% to a record 44,888 points, while the TOPIX index gained 0.7%, also hitting a new peak at 3,171.77 points, despite political uncertainty following Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation.
Fed Rate Cut Bets Hold Firm
Fresh U.S. data showed consumer prices rising 0.4% in August, slightly above expectations, while jobless claims surged to 263,000—the highest in nearly four years—signaling labor market weakness.
Despite mixed signals, traders widely expect the Fed to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its September 16–17 meeting, with limited odds of a deeper half-point cut.
Other Asian Markets
China’s Shanghai Composite edged 0.2% higher, while the CSI 300 was flat after sharp gains in the prior session. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7%, Singapore’s Straits Times index slipped 0.3%, and India’s Nifty 50 opened 0.2% lower.
Market sentiment in Asia remained cautious amid tariff concerns, as reports indicated President Donald Trump is pushing the EU and U.S. allies to impose higher tariffs on China and India.
