Asian Chip Stocks Rally on Nvidia Surge and AI Growth Optimism

Asian semiconductor stocks surged Thursday, tracking a sharp overnight rally in Nvidia shares that renewed investor confidence in AI-driven demand across the global chip industry.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) soared over 4% to a record high of $154.31 on Wednesday, boosted by a bullish report from Loop Capital highlighting accelerating investment in AI infrastructure. The rise reignited enthusiasm for semiconductor stocks closely tied to Nvidia's supply chain.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TW: 2330), a major Nvidia chip supplier, saw its shares climb nearly 3% as of 05:40 GMT. China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (HK: 0981) also jumped more than 3.5% during Hong Kong trading, reflecting growing optimism about China's domestic chip capabilities.

In South Korea, SK Hynix Inc. (KS: 000660) gained 2.5%, driven by strong demand projections for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI and data center applications.

Japanese chip equipment makers also rallied. Advantest Corp. (TYO: 6857) surged over 5%, while Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO: 8035) rose nearly 4%. Meanwhile, SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO: 9984) jumped 5%, buoyed by its tech-heavy investment portfolio focused on AI and semiconductor innovation.

The coordinated gains across Asian semiconductor stocks underscore the sector’s growing relevance in the AI revolution. As Nvidia leads the charge with cutting-edge GPUs, its upstream and downstream partners in Asia are benefiting from the global shift toward AI-centric computing.

With demand for advanced chips surging, investors are increasingly viewing semiconductor firms as pivotal players in the next wave of tech innovation, further fueling bullish sentiment across regional markets.