BENGALURU: Markets in emerging Asia surged in their largest single-day gain in more than 17 years on Friday, buoyed by a rally in South Korean and Taiwanese equities on hopes that a recent rout in the chip-heavy indexes may be nearing its end.
The MSCI EM Asia index gained about 8 percent in its biggest single-day jump since late October 2008, while the EM Asia IT index advanced more than 15 percent, on track for its best day ever, after an otherwise downbeat month. Even accounting for the latest moves, the indexes have declined 4.5 percent and 13 percent so far in July, respectively.
South Korea’s KOSPI closed its strongest trading session on record, rocketing 18 percent higher. Chipmakers SK Hynix
and Samsung Electronics, which make up more than half the benchmark, marked 30 percent and 27 percent gains by the close, respectively, in their largest single-day rises to date.
Despite a brutal six-week crash that erased more than half of its massive annual gains on thinning volume, the KOSPI remains up around 56.5 percent in 2026 so far, in a highly volatile run.
“We believe the recent market pullback in the Asia tech sector has been driven more by sentiment than by any deterioration in fundamentals,” said Kieron Poon, investment director of Asian equities at Aberdeen Investments.
“This healthy market adjustment broadens the opportunity set across Korea and the wider Asian technology sector.”
Volatility on the KOSPI this week in particular was compounded by the outsized role single-stock leveraged ETFs play in the stock market. Local regulators have since pledged to rein in the impact through individual investment caps on the products.
“The market is now waiting to see whether additional restrictions will be imposed on leveraged ETFs… Once the regulatory framework becomes clearer, the current round of deleveraging is likely to end,” Poon added.
In Taiwan, the benchmark index advanced 8 percent, its strongest single-session gain since mid-April. Semiconductor major TSMC rose nearly 10 percent in its best day since October 2020.
Elsewhere, stocks in Bangkok and Jakarta rose 1.9 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
Among currencies, the South Korean won weakened as much as 1.2 percent to 1,440.58 per dollar, after appreciating to its strongest level since mid-October 2025 on Thursday.
Comments