Asian semiconductor stocks jumped, as Anthropic PBC’s initial public offering filing helped renew investor enthusiasm for the artificial intelligence trade.
Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. climbed more than 5% each in early trading, pushing South Korea’s equity benchmark Kospi up as much as 4.5%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose as much as 2.4%, with chip-related Advantest Corp. and Sumco Corp. up more than 5% each. Taiwan’s Taiex rose more than 1% before paring its gain.
Claude-developer Anthropic moving a step closer to listing topped a list of news items overnight that helped calm the market’s recent worries on AI financing. Other highlights included SpaceX’s $40 billion equipment-finance lease and Meta Platforms Inc.’s plan for a $95 billion share sale.
“Anthropic’s landmark IPO filing alongside Meta’s aggressive capex push has reignited broader risk appetite, pulling capital out of its defensive crouch and firmly restoring chip stocks back to the driver’s seat,” said Hebe Chen, a market analyst at Vantage Global Prime.
The rally comes ahead of earnings due this week from Samsung and SK Hynix as well as Big Tech spenders Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. The reports will provide further clues on the health of the AI rally, which has struggled to get back on track after a summer selloff.