By Sherry Qin
Asian chip stocks rebounded, capping a roller coaster week amid geopolitical volatility, concerns over inflation and worries over a bubble in artificial-intelligence-related stocks.
Weeks of surging chip stocks and fresh all-time highs have given way to some of the most violent moves of the year. South Korea's two memory makers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which account for about half of the benchmark Kospi's total market capitalization, jumped 11% and 7.7% on Friday, respectively, after heavy losses earlier this week.
Their wild two-way fluctuations have led the Korea Exchange to temporarily suspend trade of Kospi stocks several times this week and sent the index up 7.9% Friday morning.
In Taiwan, TSMC--the world's largest contract chip maker--rose 2.0% while Foxconn Technology put on 2.1%. The renewed momentum came after foreign investors pulled out at least $5 billion on a net basis from Taiwan stocks in June, according to Taiwan's central bank governor.
Japan's Tokyo Electron and Kioxia Holdings were last 10% and 8.0% higher, respectively.
The benefits from the boom in AI have been concentrated among a handful of tech giant and investors are increasingly looking for proof that AI will help more than select blue-chip winners, analysts said.
"The AI and semiconductor trade had already become crowded, and the recent run of major tech IPOs is adding a supply test at a time when investors are questioning how much future earnings growth is already priced," said Tickmill Group's Patrick Munnelly in a note.
Asian semiconductor stocks have echoed Big Tech's moves on Wall Street. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has swung an average of 2.1% over the past five sessions, according to Dow Jones Market Data, compared with its five-year average absolute move of 1%. On Thursday it made a comeback by soaring 2.5%, with Intel advancing 9.3% and Micron Technology leaping 12%.
Geopolitical headlines from the Middle East have also added to the market's volatility. After launching a fresh wave of attacks on Iran earlier this week, President Trump on Thursday insisted that the U.S. was nearing a deal on peace talks with Iran, pulling back from his earlier threats to launch more military strikes and seize Iran's oil infrastructure.
The U.S.'s stronger-than-expected job report and hotter inflation have also raised uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's policy direction ahead of its meeting next week.
Still, Saxo Makets' Charu Chanana thinks the recent correction looks like a reset within a bull market than the start of a broader bear-market shift as the usual warning signs, such as recession stress, disorderly yields, extreme oil prices or a broad earnings collapse are not visible yet.
Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 12, 2026 00:10 ET (04:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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