Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Friday, with South Korean shares leading gains in the region.
South Korea’s Kospi jumped more than 4.6%, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 5.7%. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose by 2.4%, and the Topix by 0.9%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.44%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.45%, while China’s CSI 300 rose 0.33%.
Growth in chipmakers helped boost major U.S. indexes, and many investors remain hopeful that strong earnings growth will help the stock market expand beyond the technology sector and continue its upward march.
The positive mood also spilled over into Asian technology stocks. Japan’s SoftBank Group rose more than 11%, while chip equipment makers Advantest, Renesas Electronics and Tokyo Electron gained 3.9%, 3% and 4% respectively.
In South Korea, Samsung Electronics rose 4.3%, Samsung SDI rose 8.3%, LG Display advanced 4.4%, and Seoul Semiconductor rose 5.9%, SEEbiz reports. Memory chipmaker SK Hynix added 1.3% ahead of its US market debut on Friday.
Investors await SK Hynix’s U.S. IPO on Friday. The South Korean chip maker, which has seen a surge this year due to huge demand for memory, is pricing its U.S. depositary receipts at $149 a piece, according to Bloomberg, which cited a person familiar with the matter.
Traders will also be watching Delta Air Lines’ second-quarter results, due Friday morning.
