Images of mobile devices at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) Museum of Innovation in Hsinchu, on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022.
I-Hwa Cheng | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia’s technology stocks rebounded on Wednesday after global equities posted steep losses in the previous session.
South Korea’s semiconductor heavyweights led Wednesday’s bounce during early Asia hours. Shares of Samsung Electronics rose over 9%, while SK Hynix gained more than 4%, recovering part of the more than 12% decline posted by both respectively on Tuesday.
Both chip giants are major constituents of the benchmark Kospi Index, which is up more than 3% after falling 10% in the previous session.
Samsung SDI climbed 2.6%, while Seoul Semiconductor advanced 2.7%.
The rebound extended to Japan’s technology sector, where chip-equipment maker Advantest rose 0.6%, SoftBank Group added 1.5% and laser equipment manufacturer Lasertec gained 0.3%.
Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives said recent channel checks across Asia and enterprise AI demand trends showed “no cracks in the armor,” arguing that the selloff in South Korean technology stocks was more likely a pause after a near 100% rally in the Kospi this year, rather than a sign of weakening fundamentals.
The recovery followed a bruising session on Wall Street, where technology stocks extended a global selloff that began in Asia a day earlier.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2% and the Philadelphia semiconductor index slid as investors dumped chipmakers and AI-linked stocks. Memory-chip maker Micron Technology and Sandisk dropped 13%, while Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm each lost more than 5%.
