Nikkei 225 catches Nvidia’s tailwind, but KOSPI finds a reason to sell instead

Asian markets diverged on Friday as Nvidia’s blockbuster outlook continued to lift Japanese technology shares, while South Korea’s KOSPI fell despite the renewed optimism around artificial intelligence.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained about 0.4% to 66,379 in morning trading, helped by Fujitsu, NEC and other technology names.

The KOSPI moved in the opposite direction, falling about 0.8% to 6,857 by late morning as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix retreated.

Investors were also reluctant to add risk before Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s closely watched Jackson Hole speech later Friday.

Nikkei 225 gets another Nvidia lift

Japanese technology shares remained among the clearest beneficiaries of Nvidia’s strong results.

Fujitsu gained about 4.2% and NEC advanced 3.8%, making them notable contributors to the Nikkei’s rise.

The moves followed Nvidia’s 8.7% rally on Thursday after the AI chipmaker delivered better-than-expected results and signalled that infrastructure demand remains strong.

Kioxia also remained in focus after the Japanese memory-chip maker and Sandisk unveiled plans to invest more than $31 billion in Japan through 2032.

The programme is aimed at expanding advanced flash-memory capacity as AI data centres consume increasing amounts of storage.

JPMorgan analysts, cited by MarketWatch, see Nvidia’s outlook as supportive for upstream suppliers and memory producers, strengthening the case for continued demand across Asia’s semiconductor supply chain.

KOSPI fails to follow Wall Street higher

The picture was notably weaker in Seoul.

The KOSPI fell about 0.8% despite Thursday’s rally on Wall Street, with Samsung Electronics losing roughly 2% and SK Hynix falling more than 1%. Foreign and retail investors were net sellers.

Part of the weakness reflected profit-taking after Thursday’s Nvidia-driven rally, when Samsung gained 1.7% and SK Hynix climbed almost 2.5%.

South Korean stocks are also digesting the Bank of Korea’s decision on Thursday to deliver a second consecutive quarter-point rate increase, taking its policy rate to 3%.

Samsung Biologics was another major drag, falling sharply after announcing a roughly 3 trillion won capital increase to help fund its acquisition of Switzerland’s PolyPeptide Group and additional manufacturing investment.

Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young told Seoul Economic Daily that investors were likely to remain cautious before Warsh’s address, with monetary-policy uncertainty limiting the KOSPI’s ability to reclaim the 7,000 level.

Jackson Hole replaces Nvidia as the next catalyst

Across Asia, Taiwan shares gained about 1.2%, while MSCI’s Asia-Pacific benchmark excluding Japan edged higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped about 0.3%.

Oil provided some relief. Brent traded around $89.60 a barrel and was heading for a weekly loss of more than 5% as negotiations involving Iran and Oman improved hopes for traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

US Treasury yields remained elevated, however, with the 10-year near 4.67% and the 30-year close to 5.2%.

That makes Warsh’s first Jackson Hole address as Fed chair the next major test. For the Nikkei 225 and KOSPI, Nvidia has already confirmed that AI demand remains powerful.

The question now is whether interest rates allow investors to keep paying for that growth.