Asian Markets Open Higher, Buoyed by Tech Rally

Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Friday, following overnight gains on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.75% whilst the Topix rose 0.23%. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.54% at the open, and the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.10%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 bucked the trend, falling 0.63%, whilst Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures stood at 25,214, lower than the index’s last close of 25,396.51. Asian technology stocks strengthened on Friday, tracking a broad rally in US tech shares as easing oil prices and flat producer price inflation data supported risk-on sentiment. In Japan, SoftBank Group surged 5.08%, chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose 2.13%, Advantest gained 4.02%, and memory chip maker Kioxia climbed 3.87%. In South Korea, SK Hynix jumped more than 6%, whilst Samsung Electronics rose 2.05%. Technology shares have experienced increased volatility, with the South Korean semiconductor market fluctuating between record gains and sharp declines. US stock futures were little changed on Thursday evening after a record session, with two of the three benchmark indices on track for a third consecutive weekly gain. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures traded near the flatline, whilst Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged up just 4 points.