Asian stocks gained ground on Wednesday as US efforts to reach a peace deal with Iran eased investor caution and fanned a chip rally, which bumped up Samsung to the US$1 trillion club and drove South Korean shares to an all-time high.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 315 points, or 1.2 percent, to 26,213 on market turnover of HK$304.74 billion.

The China enterprises index was up 70 points, or 0.8 percent, at 8,800 while the tech index was 39 points, or 0.8 percent, up at 4,969.

Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended the day up 48 points, or 1.17 percent, at 4,160.

The Shenzhen Component Index was 352 points, or 2.33 percent, higher at 15,459 while the ChiNext Index was up 101 points, or 2.75 percent, at 3,778.

The combined turnover of the two main indexes in Shanghai and Shenzhen was 3.23 trillion yuan, up from 2.74 trillion yuan on the latest trading day before the May Day holiday.

Most stocks rose, with storage chip, semiconductor and computing power leasing sectors leading gains while oil and gas, tourism, banking and liquor shares were among the biggest losers.

In Seoul, the Kospi ended the day up 447 points, or 6.45 percent, at its highest closing level, 7,384.

Samsung Electronics soared 14.4 percent to become the second Asian company after TSMC to hit that milestone, as investors shifted focus towards positive tech earnings that signal continued demand for chips to power data centres that form a part of big tech's massive capital expenditure plans.

"The AI and semiconductor supercycle is the dominant driver. Markets are citing ongoing earnings improvement from expanded AI infrastructure investment and a recovery in the semiconductor industry," said Inki Cho, senior financial market strategist at Exness.

The Kospi has advanced nearly 12 percent so far ⁠this May, bringing its 2026 gains to over 75 percent, and markets believe there to be ⁠more room for the chip rally ⁠to advance. (Reuters/Xinhua)


Edited by Tony Sabine