BENGALURU: South Korean and Taiwanese equities rose to record highs on Monday, as an AI-driven rally propelled both markets at the start of June, while fresh strikes between the US and Iran tested fragile peace negotiations and lifted oil prices.
MSCI’s EM Asia equities gauge advanced nearly 2 percent to an all-time high, buoyed by a 3.7 percent jump in South Korea’s KOSPI and a 1.4 percent rise in Taiwan stocks. The two tech-heavy markets account for about 40 percent of the MSCI index.
Seoul shares surged to a record, driven by a more than 11 percent jump in index heavyweight Samsung Electronics and a 2 percent rise in rival SK Hynix.
Investors were optimistic that the much-anticipated meetings between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and South Korean executives could lead to tie-ups in AI and robotics.
Meanwhile, TSMC shares gained 1.4 percent.
Nomura analysts said: “AI dominance is now central to the ongoing great power competition, to capture the next wave of economic growth and gain military advantage.”
Oil prices snapped a four-day losing streak, gaining ground on the exchange of strikes between the US and Iran over the weekend and Israel’s orders for troops to move further into Lebanon, posing further threats to the reopening of the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Philippine shares pared gains after the central bank said it would consider stronger monetary policy actions to curb inflation. The benchmark was last up 0.9 percent after three straight sessions of falls to a six-month low on Friday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor said they were considering an off-cycle rate hike last month ahead of a scheduled meeting on June 18. This followed an unexpected rise in April inflation due to higher fuel costs from the Middle East conflict.
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