Japanese and South Korean stocks rallied on Tuesday as chip and artificial intelligence shares bounced back from last week’s sell-off, lifting Japan’s Nikkei 225 back above 60,000. The index was up 2.2% at 60,084.61 as of 12:55 p.m. in Tokyo, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 3.7% to 5,204.85.
SoftBank Group was among the biggest gainers in Tokyo, jumping 14% to 3,886 yen. Chip-equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose 4.8%. In Seoul, SK Hynix gained 5.6% and Samsung Electronics added 4.3%.
The moves followed Monday’s rally on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 rose 2.35% for its best day since April 8 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.74%. CNBC said a sharp drop in oil prices lifted sentiment while renewed buying in chip stocks spilled over into Asia.
Brent crude slipped another 0.8% to $91.79 a barrel in Asian trading, after settling at $92.57 on Monday. Hopes for an end to the U.S.-Iran war have pushed crude lower after President Donald Trump played down the chance of new U.S. strikes.
Tuesday’s gains recover part of last week’s slide. The Nikkei fell nearly 6% on Friday and the Kospi lost 6% that day, during a global tech sell-off that CNBC tied partly to concerns that Democrats’ gains in the U.S. midterm elections could lead to tighter limits on data-center development. Even after Tuesday’s jump, SoftBank shares are about 40% below their Oct. 5 close of 6,497 yen.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.3% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.3%. Investors are now looking to the U.S. consumer price index for October, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, the last inflation reading before the Federal Reserve’s December meeting.
