BENGALURU: Stock markets in Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea hit record highs on Thursday as investors continued to favour growth in artificial intelligence-related equities, while regional currencies remained under pressure from a steady dollar.
Equities in Jakarta broke past the 9,000-point level for the first time, rising as much as 0.7 percent to a record 9,002.92 in their seventh straight session of gains, with banks, energy, and consumer firms driving the rally.
In East Asia, stocks in Taipei and Seoul scaled lifetime peaks, rising as much as 0.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
Taiwan’s top contract chipmaker, TSMC, advanced 1.5 percent, while South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics hovered near its lifetime peak and rival SK Hynix scaled its highest point since September 1999.
Gains from the year-end AI-fuelled rally are likely to become “more selective as investors focus on profitability rather than pure investment narratives,” said Glenn Yin, director of research at ACCM.
Currencies in emerging Asian markets were under pressure as the US dollar held steady despite a slew of data showing the US economy was in a delicate position ahead of a crucial jobs report due on Friday, which will offer clues into the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.
Swaps indicate a more than 86 percent chance of a hold at the Fed’s January meeting, but price in a 38 percent probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut in March.
Taiwan’s dollar fell below 31.60 a dollar for the first time since early May last year, last trading at 31.615. South Korea’s won also inched lower to its weakest point in two weeks.
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