Nikkei 225 fångar Nvidias medvind, medan KOSPI hittar skäl att sälja

De asiatiska marknaderna divergerade på fredagen när Nvidia’s blockbuster outlook fortsatte att lyfta japanska teknikaktier, medan Sydkoreas KOSPI föll trots den förnyade optimismen kring artificiell intelligens.

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

KOSPI rörde sig åt motsatt håll och föll about 0.8% to 6,857 by late morning as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix retreated.

Investerare var också tveksamma till att öka risken inför Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s closely watched Jackson Hole speech senare Friday.

Nikkei 225 får ytterligare lyft från Nvidia

Japanska teknikaktier fortsatte att dra nytta av Nvidia’s strong results.

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

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

Kioxia var också i fokus efter att den japanska minneschipstillverkaren och Sandisk unveiled plans to invest more than $31 billion in Japan through 2032.

Programmet syftar till att utöka avancerad flash-minneskapacitet i takt med att 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 följer inte med Wall Street uppåt

Situationen var betydligt svagare i 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.

En del av svagheten speglade profit-taking after Thursday’s Nvidia-driven rally, when Samsung gained 1.7% and SK Hynix climbed almost 2.5%.

Sydkoreanska aktier bearbetar också Bank of Korea’s decision on Thursday to deliver a second consecutive quarter-point rate increase, taking its policy rate to 3%.

Samsung Biologics var en annan stor dämpande faktor och föll kraftigt efter att ha meddelat a roughly 3 trillion won capital increase för att hjälpa finansiera förvärvet av Schweiziska PolyPeptide Group och ytterligare tillverkningsinvesteringar.

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 ersätter Nvidia som nästa katalysator

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%.

Olja gav visst andrum. 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%.

Det gör Warsh’s first Jackson Hole address as Fed chair till nästa stora test. För Nikkei 225 och KOSPI har Nvidia redan bekräftat att AI demand remains powerful.

Frågan nu är om interest rates allow investors to keep paying for that growth.