The city skyline is seen with the landmark Taipei 101 building from a lookout point on Elephant Mountain in Taipei on April 14, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP) (Photo by I-HWA CHENG/AFP via Getty Images)
I-hwa Cheng | Afp | Getty Images
Asian chip stocks climbed Friday, lifting several regional markets even as broader Asia-Pacific trade remained mixed.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. rose 1.48% after the company delivered another record quarter, saying it expects to boost capital spending in 2026 to between $52 billion and $56 billion.
The Taiwan Weighted Index climbed 1.1%, making it the best-performing Asian market on Friday.
Investors across the region were also watching chip-related stocks after the U.S. reached a trade deal with Taiwan. Under the agreement, Taiwanese semiconductor companies commited to invest at least $250 billion in U.S. production capacity in exchange for lower “reciprocal” tariffs.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.46%, extending losses from Thursday, while the broad-based Topix was down 0.57%. Softbank Group, which has invested in various chip-related stocks, including chip designer Arm, gained 1.04%.
South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.92%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.59% down. Chip heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix gained 3.44% and 0.8%, respectively.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.31%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.68%, while the mainland’s CSI 300 added 0.57%. State-linked semiconductor foundry firm SMIC was up 1.62%.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.60%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.26% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.25%.
U.S. bank stocks also advanced after the latest raft of quarterly earnings. Goldman Sachs advanced more than 4% after its fourth-quarter profit topped Wall Street estimates.
Morgan Stanley jumped nearly 6% after its wealth management unit contributed to top- and bottom-line beats in the fourth quarter. Both stocks touched fresh 52-week highs.
The rally also came on the back of solid economic data. Jobless claims data for the week ending Jan. 10 came in at 198,000, lower than the 215,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Sarah Min contributed to this report.