Asia-Pacific markets are collectively boiling over! Today (January 5th), Asia-Pacific markets experienced a broad-based surge. The three major A-share indices collectively advanced. By the afternoon close, the Shanghai Composite Index had risen 1.38%, reclaiming the 4000-point level, the Shenzhen Component Index gained 2.24%, and the ChiNext Index jumped 2.85. The majority of individual stocks rose, with over 4,100 stocks across the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing exchanges closing higher. The MSCI Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) index climbed to a record high, increasing over 1%. Japanese and South Korean stock markets rose sharply. The Nikkei 225 index surged by over 1600 points intraday at one point; the Korea Composite Index soared over 3%, with Hanmi Semiconductor skyrocketing over 15% and Samsung Electronics climbing over 7%. In other Asia-Pacific markets, as of 3:00 PM, the Thailand SET Index rose 1.83%, the Pakistan Karachi Stock Exchange KSE 100 index gained nearly 2%, the Philippines Manila index increased over 1%, the Indonesia Jakarta Composite Index advanced 0.90%, and the Singapore FTSE Straits Times Index rose 0.72%.
A Collective Surge On Monday, the Japanese stock market opened high and continued climbing. The Nikkei 225 index surged over 1600 points intraday, with gains exceeding 3% at one point. By the close, the Nikkei 225 was up 1493 points, a gain of 2.97%, while the Topix index also rose over 2%. Among individual stocks, Kioxia Holdings gained nearly 9%, Advantest surged over 7%, and SoftBank Group rose nearly 5%. Driven by tech stocks, the South Korean stock market also posted significant gains, with the Korea Composite Index rising over 3% to set another historical high. At the close, Hanmi Semiconductor was up 15%, Samsung Electronics climbed over 7%, and SK Hynix gained nearly 3%. Samsung Electronics' share price once again刷新ed a record high, with its total market capitalization突破ing 800 trillion won. Recently, Citigroup analysts stated that Samsung Electronics will benefit from a favorable pricing environment for memory chips this year. They forecast that the average selling prices for DRAM and NAND flash products could rise by 88% and 74% respectively in 2026, higher than Citi's previous forecasts of 53% and 44%.
The three major A-share indices also opened high and moved higher. By the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.38%, the Shenzhen Component Index gained 2.24%, and the ChiNext Index jumped 2.85%. The storage chip and semiconductor sectors overall both rose over 4%. Among individual stocks, companies like Dongwei Semiconductor, Yunhan Xincheng, Readycare, Daoshi Technology, and Zhuoyi Information hit the 20% daily limit up, while Zhaoji Innovation, Liangwei, Yaxiang Integration, Shenghui Integration, and others rose by the 10% limit. Jiangbolong, Shannon Core Creation, Zhongwei Company, and others also posted substantial gains. Market enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and tech stocks remains strong. Some analysts pointed out that the rally in tech stocks reflects robust investor demand for AI-related assets, which continues to be a major focus in global stock markets.
Institutions: Storage Chip Prices Expected to Continue Rising In 2025, driven by strong AI demand and supply chain adjustments, storage chip prices increased significantly. Among them, DDR4 16Gb prices surged by up to 1800%, DDR5 16Gb prices rose up to 500%, and 512Gb NAND flash prices increased up to 300%. According to the latest memory spot price trend report from TrendForce, for DRAM, the price increase for DDR4 remains more significant than for DDR5. Furthermore, Samsung has clearly stated it will not delay its product End-of-Life plans. Consequently, the supply of DDR4 will decline rapidly in 2026, leading to peak prices per Gb. For NAND, spot prices have risen further due to market expectations of contract price increases in Q1 2026, although trading volume remains limited. Guojin Securities stated that for the full year of 2026, global storage chips will remain in short supply and prices are expected to continue rising. They forecast the bit supply growth for DRAM in 2026 to be approximately 15% to 20%, while demand growth is projected to reach around 20% to 25%. NAND bit supply growth is estimated at 13% to 18%, with demand growth expected to hit 18% to 23%. Consumption of DRAM and NAND flash in the server sector is predicted to surge 40%-50% year-on-year in 2026, with even faster growth in the AI server segment. They predict that storage contract prices will continue to climb in Q1 2026, with increases reaching 30%-40%. DDR5 RDIMM memory prices are expected to rise over 40%, and NAND flash prices are forecast to see double-digit percentage increases. Enterprise SSD prices are also projected to increase by 20%-30%.
Zheshang Securities pointed out that, driven by AI, the global semiconductor market reached a historical high in 2025 and is expected to grow another 9% in 2026 to $760.7 billion. Domestic wafer fab capacity utilization rates are recovering, and expansion intentions are strong. AI is driving a storage super-cycle, and domestic advanced logic and storage capacity expansion are expected to resonate. Coupled with increasing localization rates under the logic of autonomous controllability, this will drive equipment demand upward. Founder Securities indicated that suggestions in the "15th Five-Year Plan" propose accelerating semiconductor autonomy and controllable supply. The entire advanced manufacturing industry chain may usher in a period of rapid development. There is currently a significant gap between domestic storage capacity and global leaders, requiring sufficient capacity to ensure a stable supply system. The规模化 production needs of storage manufacturers provide important opportunities for technology verification and commercial application for upstream enterprises like equipment and materials suppliers. ChangXin Memory Technologies stated it will use fundraising projects to carry out the verification and development of local and new types of equipment, materials, and components. Local upstream equipment and material suppliers are expected to gradually increase their localization rates alongside end-customer capacity expansions, potentially elevating the domestic semiconductor industry to a new level.
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