Asian Equities Surge as Oil Falls, Chip Giants Post Strong Earnings
Asian equities rose sharply Thursday, driven by falling oil prices and strong earnings from Micron and Qualcomm. Brent crude dropped to $72.53, while Micron secured $22 billion in commitments. South Korea’s KOSPI surged 5.5%, becoming the world’s best-performing market with 112% year-to-date gains.
Asian equities surged Thursday as oil prices dropped to pre-war levels and strong earnings from Micron and Qualcomm eased AI rally concerns. Tech-heavy markets in Japan and South Korea rose sharply.
Micron reported $22 billion in customer commitments for memory chips, while Qualcomm projects $15 billion in data center sales by 2029. Oil prices extended declines as tankers exited the Strait of Hormuz following an initial accord to end the US-Israeli war with Iran. Brent crude futures fell 1.6 percent to $72.53 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate dropped over 1 percent to $69.36 a barrel.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.6 percent. Japan’s Nikkei gained over 4 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 5.5 percent, and Taiwan stocks were up 0.9 percent. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5 percent, and Nasdaq futures jumped 1.8 percent.
SK Hynix announced plans Wednesday to raise up to $29.52 billion via a Nasdaq secondary listing, capitalizing on AI stock demand. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have driven KOSPI to record highs, with year-to-date gains of 112 percent, making it the world’s best-performing stock market. The dollar index was at 101.6, while gold slid below $4,000 an ounce for the first time in 2026, trading at $3,990 per ounce.