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TSMC posted a record quarterly profit on Thursday and raised its revenue outlook as booming demand for artificial intelligence chips continued to fuel growth at the world’s largest contract chipmaker.
Taiwan-based TSMC reported earnings of $4.31 per share for the April-June quarter, beating analysts’ expectations.
Revenue came in at $40.2 billion (€36.8bn), above analysts’ estimates of $39.63 billion (€34.6bn).
In local currency, net profit reached a record NT$706.6bn (€19.1bn), up 77% from a year earlier, while revenue climbed 36% to NT$1.27 trillion (€36.8bn), as appetite for the advanced chips TSMC makes for customers such as Nvidia and Apple showed no sign of cooling.
Given that it manufactures semiconductors for almost every major chip designer, the Hsinchu-based firm’s results are closely read as a gauge of the wider sector and of broader AI demand itself, just as investors fret over a possible bubble.
CEO Che-Chia Wei described global AI-related demand as “extremely robust” and said he expected it to remain very strong until around 2029 or 2030. On that basis, TSMC now forecasts 2026 revenue growth of slightly above 40% year on year, up from its previous guidance of more than 30%.
Thursday’s figures confirmed what monthly sales data had already suggested.
As reported on Monday, June revenue jumped 67.9% year on year, and first-half sales rose 35.6% from the same period in 2025, slightly ahead of analysts’ consensus forecasts for the quarter.
TSMC shares rose about 1% after the earnings release but later pared those gains as a sell-off in AI-related shares weighed on benchmarks across Asia during Thursday’s session.
Alongside the results, TSMC said it would spend an additional $100 billion (€87.4bn) to expand its manufacturing capacity in the US, on top of the $165 billion (€144bn) already committed to building six fabrication plants in Arizona.
The move would bring the company’s total US investment pledges to around $265 billion (€231bn).
The fresh funds are expected to fund four further Arizona plants dedicated to the most advanced chips, those of 2 nanometres and below, and are intended to “support the strong multi-year demand” from the company’s leading American customers, CEO Che-Chia Wei said during the firm’s earnings conference.
TSMC also said it would spend more this year than previously planned, increasing its capital expenditure budget to between $60 billion (€52.4bn) and $64 billion (€55.9bn), up from an earlier range of $52 billion (€45.4bn) to $56 billion (€48.9bn).
The announcement follows a trade agreement struck earlier this year between the Trump administration and Taiwan, under which Taiwanese companies committed to invest at least $250 billion (€218bn) in the US technology sector inreturn for lower tariffs.
Additional sources • AP
South Korea revised its 2026 growth projection to 3 percent based on strong exports and a semiconductor boom, officials said Tuesday. This July 1 photo shows containers stacked at a port in Pyeongtaek. File Photo by Yonhap
The South Korean government on Tuesday revised up its economic growth projection for 2026 to 3 percent, up 1 percentage point from its previous outlook, citing a semiconductor supercycle and easing uncertainties surrounding the Middle East.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy released its economic policy plan for the second half of 2026, presenting a forecast above the 2.6 percent estimates issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
“This is the first year in which the Lee Jae Myung administration is taking full responsibility for the country’s economic management,” First Vice Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said during a press conference held in the central city of Sejong.
“On the back of the government’s prompt response to the Middle East war and robust export performance, the economy is maintaining a stable growth trend,” the first vice finance minister said, adding that the revised 3 percent growth forecast reflects those developments.
Lee said the revised growth forecast, which is significantly higher than those presented by major international institutions, remains achievable because it reflects the latest data.
“I think the outlooks from other organizations were based on data from March and April,” Lee said. “We made our assessment based on the latest data, with the major changes including stronger exports driven by the semiconductor boom. Tensions in the Middle East have eased further since then.”
“We believe such developments will exert downward pressure on consumer prices and inflation, positively affecting both exports and consumption,” he added.
In the report, the finance ministry said the policy vision for the remainder of 2026 is to mark the first year of a major economic leap toward establishing an “irreplaceable Republic of Korea,” referring to South Korea’s official name.
Seoul also unveiled the so-called 3-4-5 vision, under which the country will seek to achieve a potential growth rate of 3 percent, become one of the world’s top four exporters, and raise gross national income (GNI) per capita to US$50,000. The GNI per capita came to US$36,850 in 2025.
The finance ministry said the growth momentum, which began to expand in the second half of 2025, is expected to further accelerate this year on the back of the continuing semiconductor boom, along with policy measures, including an extra budget aimed at shielding the country from the impact of the Middle East war.
The country will also seek to successfully implement three mega projects aimed at fostering the semiconductor, AI data center and physical AI industries, the report said.
South Korea will additionally focus on maintaining an unwavering supply chain based on lessons learned from the Middle East war, including offering tax benefits for the domestic production of strategically important items.
On exports, the finance ministry said South Korea’s outbound shipments are expected to jump a whopping 40 percent on-year in 2026 on the back of the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
Non-IT products, such as ships, biohealth and secondary batteries, are also expected to remain robust, it added.
South Korea’s monthly exports reached a record $102.25 billion in June, surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time after jumping 70.9 percent on-year.
The current account for 2026 was expected to reach a $290 billion surplus, marking a record high, buoyed by the surge in overseas demand and an increase in the number of foreign tourists.
In 2027, however, the current account surplus was expected to narrow to $245 billion following a rise in imports on the back of increasing domestic consumption.
Facility investment for 2026 could expand 5 percent on-year due to the robust performance of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, although growth will be limited by sluggish machinery and petrochemical sectors.
The policy report also projected inflation of 2.6 percent in 2026, up from the previous 2.1 percent estimate, citing the lingering impact of the Middle East war, which led to higher petroleum prices.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is expected to remain at around 2 percent.
“In the second half of 2026, as tensions surrounding the Middle East war ease and global crude oil prices decline, consumer price growth is expected to slow,” the ministry said.
“However, uncertainties also linger amid the progress of Middle East war negotiations and weather conditions, which could lead to volatility in energy and agricultural product prices,” it added.
Looking ahead to 2027, the ministry projected annual inflation to reach 2.2 percent despite lower global crude oil prices due to demand-led inflationary pressure.
The government said it will continue to focus on rolling out a post-Middle East war strategy by pursuing stable macroeconomic policies while maintaining a stable supply chain.
“In response to the changing economic environment, we plan to establish a comprehensive response system to maintain market stability across the macroeconomy, financial markets, the foreign exchange market and the real estate market,” the first vice finance minister said. “Based on favorable tax revenue conditions, we will continue active fiscal management.”
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Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) said it plans to invest about $3B to expand its advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity in Japan, backed by about $1B in grants from the Japanese government. The expansion is aimed at meeting rising demand from AI and data center
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TSMC said on Monday that June revenue rose 67.9% year on year to NT$398.27 billion (€10.8bn), bringing the first-half of the year revenue to NT$2.4 trillion (€65.4bn), a 35.6% increase from the same period in 2025.
Based on the company’s monthly revenue disclosures, second-quarter revenue amounted to roughly NT$1.27 trillion, ahead of the NT$1.264 trillion (€34.4bn) consensus forecast from 20 analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Monday’s release covers June revenue and cumulative first-half sales only.
TSMC will publish its full second-quarter earnings on Thursday, including net profit, gross margin, operating margin and updated financial guidance.
At its April earnings presentation, TSMC said it expects full-year 2026 revenue to grow by more than 30% in US dollar terms and projected capital expenditure of between $52 billion (€45.5bn) and $56 billion (€49bn) as it expands manufacturing capacity to meet AI-driven demand.
New fabrication plants are under construction or in preparation in Arizona, Japan and Germany, reflecting both the scale of customer demand and government efforts to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
Shares in TSMC rose about 1% following Monday’s revenue update.
Investors will now turn their attention to Thursday’s full earnings report for updates on profitability, margins, full-year guidance and the rollout of the company’s two-nanometre manufacturing technology, which is already attracting strong customer interest.
The company sits at the centre of one of the largest investment cycles in the semiconductor industry’s history.
Many of the world’s leading AI processors, including Nvidia’s GPUs and much of the custom AI silicon designed by Amazon, Google and Microsoft, are manufactured by TSMC in Taiwan.
At the company’s April earnings presentation, CEO Che-Chia Wei described AI demand as “extremely robust”, driven by the shift from chatbots that answer questions to agentic AI systems capable of taking actions.
That transition requires significantly greater computing power, increasing demand for the advanced chips TSMC manufactures.
Advanced technologies, defined as chips produced using process technologies of seven nanometres or smaller, accounted for 74% of wafer revenue in the first quarter.
TSMC’s three-nanometre technology alone contributed 25% of wafer revenue.
Reports have indicated that Nvidia has reserved roughly 60% of TSMC’s advanced chip-packaging capacity for 2026, highlighting continued supply constraints across the AI semiconductor market.
July 10 (Asia Today) — U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to expand production in the United States as Micron accelerates a major domestic investment plan, raising questions over whether Washington is signaling continued shortages in artificial intelligence memory chips.
Lutnick referred directly to Samsung and SK Hynix at Micron’s large-scale investment site in the United States. Micron is building a production plant in Clay, N.Y.
Lutnick said he wanted to bring Micron competitors Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to the United States and have them build production facilities there.
The remarks drew attention in South Korea because Samsung and SK Hynix recently announced plans to invest 800 trillion won, about $530 billion, in the Honam region in southwestern South Korea. Industry officials had already expected Washington to push the Korean chipmakers to increase U.S. investment.
Because Lutnick directly named the two companies and urged investment, attention is now focused on how the remarks could affect Samsung and SK Hynix.
Some analysts also said the call for production investment in the United States, the central market for artificial intelligence, may indicate that memory semiconductors remain in short supply despite debate over whether the chip market is nearing a peak.
Micron said Wednesday it will expand investment in U.S. fabrication plants and technology to more than $250 billion by 2035. The company has set a goal of producing 40% of its DRAM in the United States and will move up part of its New York fabrication plant construction schedule.
Lutnick’s message that he also wants Samsung and SK Hynix to invest locally is fueling expectations that the surge in semiconductor demand could continue for some time.
Some stock market analysts have recently raised concerns that large artificial intelligence data center operators, known as hyperscalers, could slow the pace of investment. But industry officials still expect supply and demand to begin moving toward balance no earlier than 2028.
Others see Lutnick’s remarks as a sign that the U.S. government is reviving pressure for local investment after a quieter period. The comments came one day before SK Hynix’s Nasdaq listing of American depositary receipts, prompting speculation that Washington may want funds raised through the listing to be invested in the United States rather than South Korea.
Since 2025, the United States has imposed reciprocal tariffs and temporary import surcharges. Semiconductors are currently excluded, but the U.S. government has suggested it could impose tariffs of up to 100% on all semiconductor imports. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump pressured memory chipmakers to invest in the United States, saying companies that do not build plants domestically could face 100% tariffs.
With Samsung and SK Hynix recently announcing a combined 800 trillion won investment plan in South Korea, industry observers said pressure for additional U.S. investment could grow. Lutnick’s latest comments were seen as moving in that direction.
Similar views have emerged overseas. Japan’s Nikkei recently said that because Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together account for about 60% of the global memory market, the U.S. administration could raise monopoly concerns and demand relocation or investment in the United States.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260710010003905
This photo, taken Friday, shows the trading room of Hana Bank in Seoul as South Korean stocks closed higher on a semiconductor rally. Photo by Yonhap
South Korean stocks closed higher Friday, extending their winning streak to a second consecutive session, as semiconductor shares rallied following overnight gains on Wall Street. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.
After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 184.03 points, or 2.52 percent, to close at 7,475.94.
Trade volume was moderate at 449.53 million shares worth 31.16 trillion won (US$20.73 billion), with gainers far outnumbering losers 799 to 92.
Institutions purchased a net 1.13 trillion won worth of shares, while individuals and foreigners sold a net 772.82 billion won and 322.56 billion won, respectively. Foreign investors turned net sellers after two consecutive sessions of net buying.
After opening more than 3 percent higher, the KOSPI climbed as much as 5.7 percent during the session, triggering a buy-side sidecar that temporarily halted program trading in KOSPI-listed shares for five minutes. It marked the third activation of the trading curb this week.
The KOSPI gave up some of its earlier gains in afternoon trading as investors locked in profits.
Investor sentiment improved after U.S. stocks closed higher overnight, supported by a strong rebound in semiconductor shares and easing oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.27 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 0.81 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3 percent.
In Seoul, large-cap stocks finished broadly higher.
Semiconductor heavyweight Samsung Electronics went up 2.52 percent to 285,000 won.
In contrast, SK hynix edged down 0.27 percent to 2.18 million won after opening higher. The company is set to make its debut on the tech-heavy Nasdaq through the listing of its American depositary receipts (ADRs).
“Investor sentiment toward the semiconductor sector improved as Meta’s capital spending plans and Micron’s investment outlook helped ease concerns about the industry’s prospects,” said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daeshin Securities. “Strong investor demand for SK hynix’s ADR offering also supported sentiment toward semiconductor stocks, adding upward momentum to the broader market.”
Artificial intelligence investment firm SK Square advanced 6.18 percent to 1.41 million won, while chip components maker Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 6.1 percent to 1.58 million won.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,501.4 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 4.7 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys went down 1 basis point to 3.768 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds lost 0.8 basis point at 4.008 percent.
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South Korean computer chip maker SK Hynix has raised $26.5bn (£19.8bn) in its New York share offering, marking the largest ever listing by a foreign firm in the US.
The company, a key supplier to artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia, said on Thursday that it had sold 177.9 million American depositary shares for $149 each. The shares are set to begin trading on Friday on the Nasdaq.
In May, SK Hynix saw its market value top $1tn in its home country, lifted by the boom in demand for AI chips.
Its share price has more than tripled in South Korea this year, which along with Samsung Electronics has helped boost the benchmark Kospi index by more than 70% over the same period.
SK Hynix is one of the world’s leading memory chip makers. The industry has been given a major boost by the hundreds of billions being spent on AI.
Shares in rivals Samsung Electronics and Micron have more than doubled in recent months.
The US listing gives SK Hynix easier access to huge amounts of potential investment from the world’s biggest economy, which has fewer barriers than South Korea, said Seoul National University finance professor Jaewon Choi.
Traders are closely watching the listing as a “yardstick to test the water” for whether investor enthusiasm for memory chip makers will continue, Choi said.
The AI boom has triggered a rush of companies raising money on the the stock market.
In June, GrokAI owner SpaceX became the world’s biggest ever listing as it raised $85.7bn.
Meanwhile, AI developers Anthropic and OpenAI are preparing to go public, with valuations of more $1tn.
Demand for SK Hynix’s offering was reportedly over seven times more than the number of shares available, highlighting the strong investor appetite for a key company in the AI supply chain.
Each American depositary share is equivalent to a tenth of a Seoul-traded common share, SK Hynix said.
The offering gives US investors a way to buy SK Hynix shares without having to trade via an overseas stock exchange.
The company has pledged major investments to develop South Korea’s chip making and AI capabilities in the coming years.
The country’s government is likely to be counting on SK Hynix’s US listing to raise funds that can support the firm’s domestic investments, said Hanyang University business professor Yun Youngjin.
But the Nasdaq listing carries some risks, especially if investors move money towards the US and away from South Korea’s stock market, Yun added.
In June, the country’s government unveiled plans for more than $880bn of investments in partnership with SK Hynix and Samsung.
Both SK Hynix and Samsung have stock market valuations of more that $1tn, joining growing group of firms which includes tech giants Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet.
South Korean chipmaker SK hynix, known for its high-bandwidth memory chips, is preparing to raise roughly $28 billion (€24.5bn) on Wall Street, a sum surpassed only by SpaceX’s record flotation last month.
It is an extraordinary outcome for a firm that once survived on job cuts and asset sales.
Pricing is due on Thursday, with trading expected to begin on Friday under the ticker SKHY.
SK hynix is issuing 17.79 million new shares in the form of American depositary receipts (ADRs), each representing a tenth of a Seoul-listed share, and cornerstone investors including Baillie Gifford and funds run by Coatue Management have signalled interest in up to $7 billion (€6.1bn) worth of stock.
The target was trimmed from an initial $29.6 billion (€25.9bn) after the shares slipped in recent weeks.
ADRs are certificates traded on a US exchange that stand in for shares held abroad, letting American investors buy into a foreign company without dealing in a foreign currency or market.
Unlike a conventional flotation, this is not SK hynix’s stock market debut. Its primary listing remains on Seoul’s Kospi index, and the Nasdaq offering simply opens a second, dollar-denominated avenue for investors to gain exposure.
The listing arrives with the company already worth more than $1 trillion (€876bn), a threshold also crossed by rivals Samsung Electronics and Micron, after a surge of more than 200% this year.
Proceeds will fund new fabrication plants, chiefly a vast cluster in Yongin, plus its first US packaging facility in Indiana.
The move is partly about valuation. Korean-listed chipmakers have long traded at a discount to American peers, and a Nasdaq listing offers a chance to close that gap.
The AI build-out has transformed the industry’s economics.
As hyperscalers pour hundreds of billions into data centres, memory prices have exploded, with DRAM up 44% and NAND flash up 53% in a single quarter, according to Citi Research, and manufacturers have already sold most of their 2026 production.
SK hynix reported first-quarter revenue above 50 trillion won (€29bn) and operating margins north of 70%, figures unheard of for a chipmaker, and commands about 60% of the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market, according to Counterpoint Research.
Yet the timing is delicate.
Memory has always been a brutally cyclical business. The AI-driven rally that transformed SK hynix has begun to wobble as chip stocks sold off sharply across Asia last week, and Samsung lost more than $100 billion (€87.5bn) in market value despite posting a record profit.
Investors are increasingly asking whether the vast sums being spent on AI infrastructure will earn a return, a question that the Bank for International Settlements raised in late June when it warned that the boom could seed the next financial crash.
Those concerns are not new for SK hynix.
SK hynix traces its roots to Gukdo Construction, founded in 1949, which moved into electronics in 1983 as Hyundai Electronics, an arm of the Hyundai empire.
The Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s brought disaster. Under an IMF-backed restructuring of the Korean economy, Hyundai absorbed rival LG’s semiconductor business, creating a giant that promptly buckled under its own debts.
Salvation came in stages.
Renamed Hynix Semiconductor in 2001, a contraction of “high” and “electronics”, the firm cut jobs, shed assets and split from Hyundai. Profits returned, but the violent swings of the DRAM market left it perpetually exposed.
Starved of capital, it was rescued in 2012 by the telecoms conglomerate SK Group, becoming SK hynix. The takeover proved decisive. SK Group poured money into high-bandwidth memory, then a costly and unprofitable technology that few believed in.
Today it has become the scarcest commodity in AI computing. And the firm employs nearly 46,900 people.
Additional sources • AFP
South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics says it expects to post a 19-fold jump in its profits, driven by global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips.
The company forecast that it made 89tn won (£44bn; $58bn) between the start of April and the end of June, marking its third record quarterly operating profits in a row.
Major South Korean firms like Samsung release forecasts of their earnings ahead of official detailed reports to help guide investors.
Samsung’s latest forecast, released on Tuesday ahead of its full results due later in July, comes as demand for semiconductors continues to outstrip supplies – which has pushed up prices.
Samsung said in its preview, known as earnings guidance, that it brought in around 171tn won of sales during the quarter, more than double the amount for the same period last year.
The company’s projected earnings mark one of “the best quarterly performances ever”, which was close to the tech sector record set by Nvidia earlier this year, said industry analyst Marc Einstein from Counterpoint Research.
“This has everything to do with the AI boom as memory companies continue to ride a tidal wave driven by limited supply and unprecedented demand,” he added.
Samsung is one of the world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturers, making chips for firms like Nvidia and Google. The shares major tech firms have soared in recent months due to surging demand for chips.
Shares in Samsung have more than doubled in price since the start of this year, while South Korean rival SK Hynix has jumped by more than 200%.
The strong performance of both firms has helped lift the value of South Korea’s benchmark share index, the Kospi, by more than 80% this year.
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The South Korean government intends to set aside the extra tax income flowing from its record-breaking chip industry in a dedicated “future response fund”, the presidential office said, using the proceeds of the AI boom to bankroll public projects ranging from industrial infrastructure to support for younger generations.
Behind the windfall sit Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, whose memory chips have become essential to the data centres powering the global AI race.
Their record profits this year have propelled the wider economy, and swollen the government’s tax receipts along the way.
Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik outlined the plan at a meeting between the government and the ruling party on Sunday, saying the fund would help finance large-scale projects built around AI and semiconductors, while also tackling inequality and helping young people with housing, start-ups and work.
Kang warned that the extra revenue thrown off by the chip boom must not be squandered at what he described as a decisive moment for the country’s future.
No figure was provided for the fund’s size, as the government will consider its use at a fiscal strategy meeting this month before consulting the public.
In an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, Kang added that part of the money would go towards the utilities on which chip plants depend, above all power and water.
The windfall reflects an extraordinary run for Korea’s chipmakers.
Samsung shares surged more than 170% in the first half of the year, and SK hynix shares rose more than 300%, carrying both companies past $1 trillion (€874bn) in market value.
Samsung is due to publish preliminary second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, while SK hynix plans to raise 45 trillion won (€25.7bn) through a listing on the Nasdaq.
Both are also part of an 800 trillion won (€457bn) public-private push, unveiled last week, to build a new chipmaking hub in the country’s southwest.
How the windfall should be spent has become a live political debate.
In May, presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom floated using it for start-ups, young people, basic income schemes in rural and fishing communities, and support for artists.
The boom has also emboldened workers as Samsung averted a major walkout in May by agreeing to a bonus deal with its largest union.
Additional sources • AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) meets with the CEO of Anthropic Dario Amodei during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, 17 June 2026. Photo by THIBAULT CAMUS / EPA
July 3 (Asia Today) — Anthropic, the developer of the Claude artificial intelligence model, is in early discussions with Samsung Electronics about manufacturing a custom AI chip, according to a U.S. technology news report.
The Information reported Thursday, citing multiple people familiar with the discussions, that Anthropic is considering using Samsung’s 2-nanometer manufacturing process and advanced chip-packaging facilities.
The project remains at an early stage. Anthropic has not begun detailed chip design, testing or manufacturing, the report said.
Samsung’s 2-nanometer process is among the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing technologies available. Smaller manufacturing nodes can allow more transistors to be placed on a chip, potentially improving computing performance and energy efficiency.
Advanced packaging places processors, high-bandwidth memory and other chip components closer together. The shorter distance can increase data-transfer speeds and reduce bottlenecks when running large AI models.
Anthropic is studying the functions and performance required for the chip as well as how it could be integrated into servers, people familiar with the matter said. The company is also reportedly holding discussions with several chip-design companies.
Anthropic is considering using processors developed by Microsoft and British chip startup Fractile as it evaluates different approaches to expanding its computing infrastructure.
The company hired Clive Chan in June. Chan was the second hardware engineer to join OpenAI’s custom-chip program and worked on the project from its early stages.
Chan announced his departure from OpenAI and move to Anthropic in a June 7 post on the social media platform X. He said he was drawn by the opportunity to begin climbing a new technological mountain from the bottom.
The recruitment suggests Anthropic is building an internal team capable of designing specialized processors as competition with OpenAI expands from AI models into hardware and data-center infrastructure.
Anthropic raised $65 billion in a Series H investment round completed May 28, giving the company a post-investment valuation of $965 billion.
The funding was led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital. Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron participated as strategic infrastructure partners.
Anthropic said the three semiconductor companies provide technologies that play important roles in supplying memory, storage and logic chips.
Samsung is the only one of the three companies that also operates a large contract chip-manufacturing business, raising expectations that its relationship with Anthropic could expand beyond memory supplies.
A manufacturing agreement with Anthropic would give Samsung another major AI customer as the South Korean chipmaker seeks to challenge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in the market for advanced processors.
Samsung previously signed a $16.5 billion agreement to manufacture next-generation AI chips for Tesla. Google is also reportedly considering using Samsung to manufacture part of a future tensor processing unit.
The potential Anthropic contract could strengthen Samsung’s position as demand for alternatives to Taiwan Semiconductor’s manufacturing capacity increases.
Major technology companies are developing specialized processors to reduce computing costs, improve energy efficiency and gain greater control over their AI infrastructure.
Google has developed several generations of its tensor processing units, while Amazon Web Services operates its Trainium processors for AI training.
OpenAI and Broadcom unveiled Jalapeño, OpenAI’s first custom inference processor, on June 24. Inference refers to the process through which a trained AI model generates responses to user requests.
OpenAI said the processor was developed from initial design to production in nine months. Early deployment is expected by the end of the year.
Broadcom Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan described Jalapeño as the beginning of a multigeneration processor roadmap. The companies plan to install the chips in large-scale data centers operated with partners including Microsoft.
Anthropic said its custom-chip work would not replace its existing relationships with hardware suppliers.
“Nvidia GPUs, Google TPUs and AWS Trainium chips will continue to play a central role in our computing resources,” the company said in response to a request for comment from The Information.
South Korea on Monday unveiled a wider semiconductor investment plan under which Samsung and SK hynix are expected to invest about 800 trillion won ($523 billion) over the next decade.
The plan includes four new semiconductor fabrication plants and expanded production of high-bandwidth memory and advanced packaging technologies used in AI systems.
Samsung has faced yield problems in some previous advanced manufacturing processes. Yield refers to the percentage of usable chips produced from each semiconductor wafer.
The performance and production stability of Samsung’s 2-nanometer process are therefore expected to be critical to its ability to compete with Taiwan Semiconductor for major AI-chip orders.
An industry official said Samsung has become more selective about accepting manufacturing orders, focusing resources on projects considered commercially and technologically viable.
Anthropic is entering the custom-chip competition later than several major AI and cloud-computing companies. However, rapidly rising demand for AI infrastructure is creating opportunities for specialized processors.
TrendForce projects that shipments of servers using cloud companies’ custom application-specific integrated circuits will grow 44.6% in 2026. Shipments of servers using general-purpose graphics processors are expected to grow 16.1%.
Nvidia remains the dominant supplier of AI processors, but the development of chips by OpenAI, Google, Amazon and other technology companies could gradually reduce their reliance on its hardware.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260703010001110
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Stock markets across Asia mostly advanced on Friday, taking their cue from a fresh record close for the Dow on Wall Street, as some of the AI-linked shares battered in this week’s sell-off found their feet again while others kept falling.
The volatility was calmer than the heavy selling seen a day earlier, when worries about stretched technology valuations sent semiconductor shares tumbling across the region.
At the time of writing, South Korea’s Kospi led the bounce, climbing over 4% to recoup part of the nearly 8% plunge it suffered on Thursday. Samsung Electronics, the country’s largest company and a major chipmaker, jumped 7%, while smaller memory rival SK Hynix rose 4.9%.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1%, helped by a 6.6% leap in memory maker Kioxia, although chip-equipment supplier Tokyo Electron slipped 2.5%.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.7% and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.3% and Taiwan’s Taiex bucked the trend, easing 0.6%.
As for European markets, both the Euro Stoxx 50 and the broader pan-European Stoxx 600 opened within a 0.3% range.
The UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX 30, France’s CAC 40 and Italy’s FTSE MI, all traded between 0.1% and 0.3% higher.
Spain’s IBEX 35taly’s FTSE MIB led the pack and rose about 0.4%.
US stocks were mixed on Thursday, but the Dow still managed a fresh peak, rising 1.1% to 52,900.
The broader S&P 500 ended virtually flat despite seven in ten of its members gaining, held back by another retreat in chip stocks, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.8%.
Sentiment drew support from data showing US employers added 57,000 jobs last month, well below the 100,000 forecast and a slowdown on May.
A softer labour market could ease inflation pressure and, with oil back below its pre-war levels, may lessen the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates repeatedly this year, an outcome investors would welcome.
Crypto-linked shares also firmed as Bitcoin rose about 2%, lifting Robinhood and Coinbase alongside it.
Still, the AI trade remained under strain.
Micron gave up an early gain to fall 5.5%, a day after a 10.6% slump, while Lam Research sank more than 10% and Nvidia, now worth close to $4.7 trillion, edged 1.4% lower.
On oil, Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1% to around $73 a barrel early Friday, while US crude added 0.5% to about $69, with prices still sitting below where they were before the Iran war began in late February.
Additional sources • AP
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Most Asian stock markets dropped on Thursday, dragged down by a wave of selling in semiconductor shares, as European bourses made a subdued start and Wall Street looked set to open in the red before the release of key US employment figures.
The pullback centred on the technology sector, where investors retreated from the chip stocks that have powered much of this year’s rally, amid growing unease that the vast sums Big Tech is spending on AI could leave the market awash with supply.
South Korea’s Kospi bore the worst of it, tumbling around 5% as its heavyweight chipmakers slid. Memory specialist SK Hynix lost close to 8% and Samsung Electronics fell more than 6%.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed about 1.5%, with chip-equipment maker Tokyo Electron down around 5.6%, while Taiwan’s Taiex slipped 1.1% as TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, gave up 1.8%.
The falls followed a rough session for chip stocks on Wall Street this Wednesday, where Micron Technology dropped more than 10% and Intel sank around 9%.
The moves stand in sharp contrast to a stellar year for Asian tech, with the Kospi and the Nikkei still up roughly 85% and 34% respectively in 2026.
On the other hand, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose about 0.8%, lifted by an 8.7% jump in electric-vehicle maker BYD after it reported a second straight monthly rise in sales, while India’s Sensex added 0.5%.
In Europe, markets opened flat as both the Euro Stoxx 50 and the broader pan-European Stoxx 600 traded within a 1% range at the start of Thursday’s session.
The UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX 30, France’s CAC 40 and Spain’s IBEX 35, all traded between 0.1% and 0.3% higher.
Italy’s FTSE MIB led the pack and rose about 0.4%.
Crude prices fell again, trading below where they sat before the Iran war began in late February, as hopes grew that supplies through the Strait of Hormuz will steadily recover.
Brent crude, the international standard, eased around 1% to about $70.89 a barrel while WTI, the US benchmark, dropped 3% to roughly $69.
Attention now turns to the US, where stock futures edged lower ahead of the June employment report, brought forward a day because of Friday’s Independence Day.
Economists polled by Dow Jones expect around 115,000 jobs were added last month.
The figure carries extra weight under the new Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, with investors wary that a strong reading could harden the case for keeping interest rates higher for longer.
According to economists at Capital Economics, demand for AI may keep growing but at a slower pace than many expect, a caution that helped sour sentiment towards the sector.
Additional sources • AP
David Becker/Getty Images News
(Updated to include comments from SA analyst Kenio Fontes.)
What’s the most attractive chip stock for investors right now?
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Kenio Fontes: In terms of momentum, I think Micron (
South Korean president frames the push as a race against time to secure the country’s domination in AI boom.
Published On 29 Jun 202629 Jun 2026
South Korea has laid out a sweeping industrial strategy focused on semiconductor chips and artificial intelligence projects as President Lee Jae Myung pledges to cement overwhelming industry leadership with investments of hundreds of billions of dollars over several years.
Flanked by the heads of the world’s two biggest memory chipmakers, Lee cast the initiative on Monday as a “great leap forward” centred on the “triple axis” of semiconductors, physical AI and data centres.
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“We must secure the core elements of AI faster than any other country,” the president said in a televised address.
The world’s two largest memory chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, will invest 800 trillion won ($518bn) with suppliers to build two new chip fabrication sites each in South Korea’s southwest, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said.
Lee said the country’s southwestern city of Gwangju and South Jeolla province will also invest 5 trillion to 20 trillion won ($3.2bn to $13bn) in the projects. Kim said a further 81 trillion won ($52.5bn) is expected to be invested for a chip-packaging cluster in the Chungcheong area near Seoul.
The government also unveiled plans to build AI data centres in the region, backed by 550 trillion won ($356bn) in investments from the SK Group, GS Group and Naver.
“By 2035, an additional 10-gigawatt AI data centre will be built with a total investment exceeding 18.4 gigawatts and 1,000 trillion won,” or $648bn, Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon announced.
The announcement marks the government’s boldest push yet to align South Korea’s AI and chip ambitions with Lee’s pledge to narrow regional disparities and revive economies beyond the Seoul metropolitan area.
The opposition has criticised the plan, arguing that his government’s decision to locate a second semiconductor cluster in Honam, the traditional electoral stronghold of his liberal Democratic Party, is driven more by regional politics than by industrial logic.
They have accused the government of pressuring memory chipmakers to invest in the region to bolster political support rather than allowing companies to choose the most commercially viable locations.
As part of the overall initiative, the southwest would be the home of new, large chip production clusters, Lee said, in part to use the rich power resources yet untapped there.
The president defended the proposed southwestern chip hub in a series of X posts over the weekend, rejecting criticism that it favours a region where 85 percent of voters backed him in last year’s presidential election.
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Micron, one of only a handful of companies able to make advanced memory chips at scale, said on Wednesday that revenue in the third quarter reached $41.4 billion (€36.5bn), more than four times the $9.3 billion (€8.2bn) it recorded in the same period last year.
The figure also comfortably beat the roughly $35.7 billion (€31.4bn) analysts had forecast, while profit climbed even more dramatically.
The Idaho-based group posted net income of $28.24 billion (€24.9bn), or $24.67 per share, against less than $2 billion (€1.7bn) a year ago. Adjusted earnings of $25.11 a share sailed past the $20.49 expected.
The market reaction to the impressive results was immediate.
Micron shares rose more than 15% in after-hours trading to around $1,213, leaving the company valued at roughly $1.16 trillion (€1tn).
The stock has now climbed about 700% over the past year, one of the most dramatic re-ratings of any large company through the AI boom, reflecting a fundamental shift in the economics of the AI build-out.
The vast data centres being constructed by hyperscalers such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta, which have collectively earmarked hundreds of billions of dollars in capital spending this year, depend on enormous quantities of high-bandwidth memory, a specialised chip that sits alongside the processors made by Nvidia and others.
Micron has said its entire 2026 output of these chips is already sold out under fixed-price contracts.
According to CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, the results reflect what he called the strategic value of memory in the AI era.
The company pointed to a series of multi-year customer agreements that it expects to make earnings more durable and predictable, a notable claim in an industry long defined by brutal boom-and-bust cycles.
What has startled analysts most is Micron’s profitability.
The company reported a gross margin of around 85% for the quarter, a level that now rivals or exceeds those of far larger technology names such as Nvidia and Meta, an extraordinary position for a memory maker historically squeezed by volatile chip prices.
The tightness of supply, with new factories not expected to add meaningful output until 2028, has handed producers exceptional pricing power.
Micron’s guidance was more striking still.
The company expects revenue of around $50 billion (€44bn) in the current quarter and adjusted earnings of roughly $31 a share, implying the boom is accelerating rather than fading. It is ramping up investment to match, lifting planned capital spending to about $27 billion (€23.7bn) this fiscal year and signalling a further jump in 2027, management told analysts during the earnings call.
The results offer reassurance to investors betting that AI infrastructure spending remains robust, with Micron’s order book serving as a real-time gauge of that demand.
The open question, as ever in the memory industry, is how long the upswing can last before supply catches up. Even the most bullish observers acknowledge that risk has not completely disappeared.
This photo, taken Thursday, shows the trading room of Hana Bank in Seoul as South Korean stocks soared by more than five percent on a tech rally driven by Micron’s earnings report. Photo by Yonhap
South Korean stocks soared by more than 5 percent Thursday, briefly topping the 9,000-point level again, driven by a tech rally ignited by U.S. chip giant Micron Technology’s expectation-beating earnings report. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 459.28 points, or 5.42 percent, to close at 8,930.30, following a 3.26 percent gain the previous day.
The index briefly topped the 9,000-point threshold, rising as high as 9,044.04.
Finishing at an all-time high of 9,114.55 on Monday, the KOSPI has remained in the 8,000-point range since it dived 9.99 percent Tuesday.
The index pulled off a strong start, with a buy-side sidecar issued shortly after the market opened, as Micron, the world’s No. 3 memory chipmaker, released its stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, brushing off lingering concerns about the sustainability of an artificial intelligence (AI) rally.
Micron is a major beneficiary of the AI infrastructure spending boom along with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix thanks to rising demand for memory chips and high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
Trade volume was heavy at 449.3 million shares worth 50.4 trillion won (US$32.7 billion), with losers beating winners 588 to 289.
Institutions purchased a net 3.3 trillion won worth of stocks, while foreigners and individuals dumped a net 819.7 billion won and 2.5 trillion won, respectively.
“Micron’s strong financial report pushed up semiconductor shares here,” Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said. “Airline shares also rose as the Strait of Hormuz seemed to reopen and global oil prices dropped.”
Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, jumped 5.29 percent to 358,500 won, and No. 2 SK hynix surged 13.06 percent to 2.9 million won.
SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, advanced 5.56 percent to 1.9 million won, and Samsung C&T, which holds a stake in Samsung Electronics, soared 7.79 percent to 519,000 won.
Flag air carrier Korean Air vaulted 6.4 percent to 29,100 won, and Asiana Airlines mounted 6.2 percent to 7,710 won.
Brokerages were also strong as Samsung Securities rose 3.07 percent to 110,800 won, and Kiwoom Securities gained 7.48 percent to 337,500 won.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,542.7 won per U.S. dollar as of 3:30 p.m., down 0.9 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 1.5 basis points to 3.757 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds declined 2.2 basis points to 3.992 percent.
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This photo, taken Monday, shows the trading room of Hana Bank in Seoul as South Korean stocks closed above the 9,100-point mark on a semiconductor rally and optimism over a U.S.-Iran deal. Photo by Yonhap
South Korean stocks finished at an all-time high Monday on a continued rally in semiconductor shares amid signs of progress in U.S.-Iran talks to end their monthslong war in the Middle East. The local currency lost against the U.S. dollar.
After opening 1.08 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 62.13 points, or 0.69 percent, to 9,114.55 after rising as high as 9,253.00.
Trade volume was moderate at 377.2 million shares worth 41.4 trillion won (US$26.9 billion) with losers outnumbering winners 739 to 148.
Retail investors and institutions were net buyers, purchasing 2.15 trillion won and 308.4 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors sold a net 2.55 trillion won.
On Sunday, Washington and Tehran wrapped up their first talks and agreed on a road map to reach a final deal within 60 days, according to a statement issued by the mediating countries of Qatar and Pakistan.
The negotiations had been at risk of breakdown as Tehran said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. President Donald Trump had repeated his threats to resume attacks on Iran.
“Negotiations went smoothly in general despite some aggressive messages, which were considered short-lived noises,” said Kang Jin-hyeok, an analyst from Shinhan Securities.
Semiconductor shares ended in positive territory.
Chip giant SK hynix jumped 5.61 percent to 2.92 million won, surpassing Samsung Electronics in terms of market capitalization for the first time.
SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, surged 10.67 percent to 1.97 million won, and Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip manufacturing equipment provider, increased 2.2 percent to 301,500 won.
Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace advanced 0.27 percent to 1.13 million won, and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) climbed 1.43 percent to 148,600 won.
However, Samsung Electronics dropped 0.14 percent to 353,500 won, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic components manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Electronics, lost 1.85 percent to 2.23 million won.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor decreased 5.22 percent to 581,000 won, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution dipped 4.7 percent to 385,500 won.
Samsung Life Insurance slid 9.36 percent to 450,500 won, and pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics retreated 5.75 percent to 1.3 million won.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,537 won against the U.S. dollar, down 10 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 2.6 basis points to 3.810 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds added 3.9 basis points to 4.044 percent.
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Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a televised speech during a gathering in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 27, 2025. Analysts say southern Lebanon could remain a battlefield and a bargaining chip in regional negotiations despite a preliminary agreement between the United States and Iran. Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA
BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 19 (UPI) — The Iran war may be over, but southern Lebanon is likely to remain a battlefield and a bargaining chip in regional negotiations, despite Lebanon’s inclusion in the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States — a provision Israel rejected to preserve its freedom of action against Hezbollah, analysts said.
Violence in southern Lebanon subsided after the United States and Iran announced a 14-point preliminary agreement to end hostilities, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and begin nuclear talks under a 60-day extended ceasefire.
The MOU was signed remotely on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, two days ahead of a formal signing ceremony scheduled to take place in Switzerland.
Rather than a cessation of hostilities, southern Lebanon witnessed a sharp escalation in fighting, with Israel intensifying its airstrikes and Hezbollah targeting Israeli forces seeking to seize the strategic Ali Taher hill in the Nabatiyeh district. Both sides traded accusations of violating the ceasefire established under the MOU.
The overnight exchange left 47 people dead, including women and children, and 97 others wounded in Israeli strikes on several areas of Lebanon, including Nabatiyeh and the eastern Bekaa Valley. Four Israeli soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, were also killed by Hezbollah fire.
Israeli airstrikes continued beyond a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, brokered by the United States and Qatar with Iranian assistance, and set to take effect at 4 p.m. Friday.
It remains to be seen how long this new truce will last, as is the case with the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, given ambiguities in the MOU and differing interpretations of its clauses.
Israel, which rejected Trump’s “betrayal” and the agreement with Iran, is seeking to change the arrangement by force in order to preserve its freedom of action against Hezbollah threats in southern Lebanon. It also seeks to maintain control of a security zone in southern Lebanon and is not willing to withdraw its forces unless its northern region is secured and safe.
Riad Tabbarah, Lebanon’s former ambassador in Washington, said Israel believes it has the right, as it usually does, to modify the agreement on the ground after “accepting it on paper, so as not to annoy Trump.”
“This is exactly what they did last time, and what they do every time,” Tabbarah told UPI. “Today, they are doing the same.”
He was referring to the Nov. 27 ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States and France to halt the war that began when Hezbollah opened a support front for Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023.
Despite the truce, Israel continued to carry out strikes against Hezbollah, which refrained from retaliation for 15 months as it sought to reorganize its ranks before resuming fighting on March 2 in support of Iran.
The March escalation increased the human and material toll in Lebanon after Israel applied what was described as a “scorched earth” policy to empty border areas of residents and render them uninhabitable.
More than 3,980 people have been killed and 12,001 injured in the past 109 days, with 1.2 million displaced under Israeli evacuation orders. Large areas were devastated, including the complete destruction of 70 villages and heavy damage to infrastructure.
It would be “pure imagination and illogical” to think that Israel would easily withdraw and relinquish the security zone it is building in southern Lebanon, intended to prevent anyone from crossing its border and carrying out kidnappings like Hamas did from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Tabbarah.
What could stop the frustrated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from sabotaging Trump’s efforts to finalize a lasting peace deal with Iran and continuing his military campaign in Lebanon?
The tension between Trump and his administration on one side, and Netanyahu and his government officials on the other, over the Iran deal “is growing, and we need to wait and see how it will develop,” said Lebanese former foreign minister Fares Boueiz.
As for Iran, Boueiz noted that as long as it believes it is benefiting from the deal with Trump, it “won’t do anything to jeopardize the understanding.”
“It is clear that the U.S.-Iran war is over, with no winner and no loser and no complete victory for anyone,” he told UPI. “The next 60 days will determine whether a final agreement is reached and whether Netanyahu will be able to obstruct it.”
The fear that Lebanon remains an open battlefield and a bargaining chip has grown, despite Iran’s pledge to Hezbollah that it will not proceed with the MOU talks if Israel fails to observe a full ceasefire in Lebanon and withdraw from the southern region.
Lebanese retired Maj. Gen. Abdul Rahman Chehaitli argued that the war in south Lebanon was “an Iran-Israel war sponsored by the U.S.”
“Now that Iran has reconciled with the U.S., signed an agreement, and is negotiating, the battle is over for them,” Chehaitli said in an interview with UPI. “This means that Lebanon should work toward a solution with Hezbollah and engage in serious negotiations to secure Israel’s withdrawal and end any illegitimate armed presence.”
Lebanon, which opted for U.S.-mediated direct talks with Israel to end the war despite Hezbollah’s objections, is preparing for another round of diplomatic talks with Israel scheduled to take place in Washington next week.
While Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem has set new terms for the talks, saying they should be limited to “mutual security,” Israel is insisting on disarming the Iran-backed group and keeping it away from its borders.
Hezbollah has also been pushing to drop the Lebanon-Israel direct negotiations in favor of the U.S.-Iran track.
“Hezbollah can say whatever it wants, but Lebanon should negotiate on its own,” Chehaitli said, adding that the militant group “is concerned about the day after, seeking security guarantees or immunity.”
Lebanon has no option but to negotiate its way out of the war, but the process will be long, and southern Lebanon will remain under Israeli fire and a bargaining chip in Iran’s hands until a final deal with Washington is reached, according to some analysts.
Tabbarah argued that Israel did not go through all this war only to back down, while Iran seeks a high price in return for Hezbollah and its other regional armed proxies.
“I don’t think Iran will go to war again. It will find a formula to save face for its armed militias,” he said, adding that the U.S., on its part, will have to restrain Israel and force Netanyahu to accept a full ceasefire in Lebanon.
He explained that a decision by Trump to stop U.S. military assistance to Israel, or “anything of the sort,” would be a serious step.
Tabbarah, however, warned that the solution “is not for tomorrow unless Israel drops its dream of establishing Greater Israel.”
Employees celebrate after the closing bell in a trading room of Woori Bank in Seoul on Thursday, as the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index surpassed a historic landmark of 9,000 points. Photo by Yonhap
Seoul stocks surged by more than 2 percent past another historic landmark, surpassing the 9,000-point level for the first time in history, as investors bet on chipmakers in the face of a hawkish stance by the Federal Reserve and Iran uncertainty.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 199.6 points, or 2.25 percent, to 9,063.84, after rising as high as 9,106.07.
The KOSPI continued its winning streak for the sixth consecutive session on the back of optimism over artificial intelligence (AI) and related sectors.
Trade volume was heavy at 505.9 million shares worth 49.9 trillion won (US$32.7 billion). Foreigners were net buyers, snatching up 1.3 trillion won, while retail and institutional investors net sold a combined 1.2 trillion won.
Losers outnumbered gainers 109 to 788.
The index bucked overnight losses on Wall Street caused by Fed policymakers’ remarks that a rate hike would be inevitable to tame inflation.
The continued rally was led by the country’s two major chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, said analyst Kim Seok-hwan from Mirae Asset Securities.
“Investors are anticipating that semiconductor companies could gain better bargaining power due to a sustained supply bottleneck,” the analyst said.
A risk appetite was also revived on anticipation the U.S.-Iran war is nearing its end. The United States has said Iran has agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route, and revealed a signed memorandum of understanding on ending the war.
The rate freeze from the Fed, the fourth consecutive on-hold decision, appeared to have a limited impact on investor sentiment.
Market top cap Samsung Electronics rose 4.62 percent to 362,500 won, while its rival SK hynix jumped 6.51 percent to 2,685,000 won.
Non-semiconductor sectors lost ground.
Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace fell 2.86 percent to 1,189,000 won, ship builder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries retreated 3.25 percent to 684,000 won, and major financial firm KB Financial inched down 0.55 percent to 163,100 won.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,527.1 won against the U.S. dollar, down 13.7 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 4 basis points to 3.75 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds added 5.2 basis points to 3.949 percent.
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Jude Bellingham has said the external “noise” around his place in the England team may help him find his best form during the World Cup.
One of the main talking points around selection before England’s first group game against Croatia was whether boss Thomas Tuchel would select Real Madrid’s Bellingham or Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers in the number 10 role behind captain Harry Kane.
Bellingham was chosen to start in Dallas and scored England’s crucial third goal just after half-time, with Marcus Rashford adding a fourth late on to complete a 4-2 win.
“For me personally, it was nice to put some of the noise aside and just show my country and my team-mates how committed I am to help us try to win football matches,” the 22-year-old, who is appearing in a fourth consecutive major tournament for England, told BBC Sport.
“To contribute, to help my team and help my country is one of the biggest honours and regardless of the noise outside, that honour doesn’t change for me at all.”
Bellingham conceded that it has been a “bit of a tougher season for me”, with the start of his 2025-26 campaign disrupted by injury, his club side in Spain ending up eight points behind eventual champions Barcelona and his place in the national team under scrutiny.
But Bellingham said he feels “fresh and sharp” heading into the tournament and it was “nice to hear” comments from colleagues such as Jordan Henderson, who said the former Birmingham City and Borussia Dortmund player gives England an “X-factor”.
Asked if he has entered the World Cup with added impetus, Bellingham said: “A little bit – I think I’ve got a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, haven’t I?”
