South Korean and Japanese stocks hit record highs on Wednesday amid gains in the region, after a tech-fueled Wall Street rally, boosted by easing concerns about disruption in select industries caused by artificial intelligence.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped over 1.4% to a new high, while the Topix added 0.3%.
Similarly, South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.72% to surpass the 6,000-point mark for the first time. Index heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics rose by 0.6% and 0.88%, respectively.
Small-cap Kosdaq added 0.16%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.13%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.39%, while the mainland’s CSI 300 added 0.49%.
Taiwan’s benchmark stock index rose 1.8% to a record high for the fifth straight session.
Bitcoin jumped about 2%, back to the $65,000 level after briefly dipping below $63,000 on Tuesday.
“The global economy appears to be on somewhat firmer footing as the effects of fiscal and monetary policy continue to support activity. Financial markets, however, are struggling to establish a clear direction amid several headwinds,” BMI said in a report on Wednesday, referring to recent AI-driven swings, along with heightened geopolitical risks.
“We assign a 50% probability of a US-led military attack on Iran, which contributes to the increased risk premium in oil prices and, to some extent, the strength of the US dollar,” BMI analysts said.
Investors are also evaluating US President Donald Trump’s State of the Nation address, SEEbiz reports.
“We’re negotiating with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: We’ll never have nuclear weapons. My preference is to resolve this diplomatically,” Trump said during the address.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.72% to $66.1 a barrel, while Brent crude futures rose 0.73% to $71.29 a barrel.
