Asian equities pushed higher on Monday, extending a tech-led rebound as investors shook off last week’s jitters over artificial intelligence valuations and focused on a fresh batch of bullish semiconductor signals. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.3%, with more than two stocks rising for every decliner, while US equity futures held onto gains from Friday’s holiday-thinned session.
South Korea’s Kospi index led regional benchmarks, surging as much as 2.9% in early trading before settling with a gain of 1.8%. The rally was fueled by a powerful combination of news in the memory chip sector: Samsung Electronics jumped 4% following reports it is considering raising some chip prices, while SK Hynix added 1.4% ahead of its highly anticipated $29 billion American depositary receipt listing this week. The won, which had slumped to its weakest level against the dollar since 2009 late last week, stabilized after South Korean officials signaled they were preparing for currency flows related to the ADR offering. The currency was little changed as Seoul also launched 24-hour trading, a key step in its campaign to win developed-market status from MSCI.
Sentiment toward the semiconductor supply chain remained robust after Hon Hai Precision Industry, Nvidia’s key server assembly partner, reported stronger-than-expected sales. The data helped soothe nerves frayed by last week’s two-day rout in chipmakers, which had been driven by fears that the AI-fueled rally had run too far ahead of fundamentals. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 1.2%, signaling that Wall Street’s tech-heavy gauges are poised to build on Friday’s recovery when cash trading resumes.
In China, mainland and Hong Kong markets presented a more fragmented picture. The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.29% while the Shenzhen Component inched 0.11% higher, but the ChiNext board reversed early gains to slip 0.24%. The star of the morning session was the lab-grown diamond sector, which exploded higher after a CITIC Securities research note predicted that commercial orders for diamond-based heat-dissipation materials — critical for AI servers and premium consumer electronics — would land in dense clusters during the second half of 2026. Huanghe Whirlwind hit its daily limit up, while Huifeng Diamond surged more than 10%.
The precious metals complex also rallied hard. Hunan Silver soared to its daily trading cap, and a string of miners including Xingye Silver & Tin, Shanjin International, Western Gold, and Chifeng Gold followed sharply higher. Behind the move: JPMorgan’s latest gold forecast, which sees bullion averaging $4,300 an ounce in the third quarter of 2026 and $4,500 in the fourth quarter, with further gains into 2027. Spot gold gave up early Asian gains to trade around $4,175 an ounce, while silver added 0.4% to roughly $62.74 an ounce.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index opened 0.23% higher, with the Hang Seng Tech Index up 0.55%, though both subsequently pared gains. The biotech and pharmaceutical sector extended its strong run after China’s National Medical Products Administration published a draft proposal to streamline the clinical trial approval process for cell and gene therapies, placing qualified drugs into a 30-day review channel. Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals hit its daily limit, while Sanyuan Gene and Hotgen Biotech both jumped more than 10%.
A seismic profit alert from memory-chip maker Jiangbolong added to the tech buzz. The company forecast first-half 2026 net profit of 9.2 billion yuan to 11 billion yuan (approximately $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion), representing a staggering year-on-year surge of between 62,204% and 74,394%. The stock gapped up more than 10% at the open, dragging peers like Baiwei Storage and Netac Technology higher.
Adding fuel to the semiconductor fire, an industry insider confirmed that Samsung’s plan to raise DRAM prices by 20% in the third quarter is real, with verbal quotes already communicated to select customers. Meanwhile, Huawei’s semiconductor chief He Tingbo released a new version of what the industry calls “Tao’s Law,” outlining five key enabling technologies including LogicFolding 3D stacking, hybrid bonding, and Hi-ONE optical engines — a roadmap that lifted advanced packaging stocks like Huada Empyrean, which surged over 10%.
Oil markets moved in the opposite direction. Brent crude slipped 0.7% to $71.65 a barrel as energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz showed signs of recovery and OPEC+ members backed another modest increase in collective output quotas for the coming month. The combination of easing supply fears and higher production targets kept a lid on prices, providing a tailwind for energy-importing economies across Asia.
In currency markets, the Japanese yen remained under relentless pressure, trading at 161.54 per dollar in early Asian hours. Goldman Sachs revised its 12-month yen forecast sharply lower, to 165 per dollar from 155 previously. Strategists including Kamakshya Trivedi cited a macro backdrop of higher-for-longer US yields, low recession risk, lingering fiscal concerns, and only gradual rate hikes from the Bank of Japan as powerful drivers of continued depreciation.
Treasuries were steady as cash trading resumed following the US Independence Day holiday. The market faces a key test of investor appetite for longer-dated debt this week, with auctions of 10- and 30-year notes on the calendar. Traders will also scrutinize minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting after Chair Kevin Warsh tempered his hawkish inflation stance on July 1, pointing to easing price pressures. Combined with softer-than-expected jobs data, the comments have led markets to trim expectations for an imminent rate hike.
Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG Markets in Sydney, framed the current moment as a consolidation phase. “Tech stocks and tech-heavy indices in the US and Asia have entered a period of consolidation ahead of the Q2 earnings season,” he said. With earnings season now underway, investors are laser-focused on whether the hundreds of billions of dollars being poured into AI infrastructure are beginning to translate into bottom-line profits — a question that will determine whether the tech rebound has further room to run or is simply catching its breath before another leg down.
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