TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average reversed course to end higher on Monday, as chip-related stocks cut losses after South Korea rolled out sweeping chip and AI mega-projects.
The Nikkei closed 0.15 percent higher at 69,468.11, after falling as much as 1.97 percent earlier in the session. The broader Topix rose 0.47 percent to 3,982.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said the world’s two largest memory chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, would invest some USD520 billion with suppliers to build two new chip fabrication sites in the country.
Memory chipmaker Kioxia narrowed its early loss, ending 4.5 percent lower. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest fell 1.51 percent. Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose 2.44 percent.
Those shares declined in early trade after the Philadelphia SE semiconductor index’s 5.3 percent fall on Friday. The decline underscores recent volatility among AI-related chipmakers that have fuelled much of Wall Street’s gains in recent years.
Comments