Asian Markets Rally as Dow Jones Reaches New Record

Asian stock markets saw gains on Friday, following a record-setting close for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the U.S. The performance was mixed for artificial intelligence-related stocks, with some bouncing back while others extended recent losses.

U.S. futures indicated moderate gains, and oil prices also trended upward. In South Korea, the Kospi, which experienced a significant drop of nearly 8% on Thursday, recovered some ground, advancing 2.8%. Samsung Electronics, the nation's largest company and a major chip manufacturer, saw its stock rise by 7%, while competitor SK Hynix gained 4.9%.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9%. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron experienced a 2.5% decline, whereas memory chip producer Kioxia surged 6.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 1.7%, and Shanghai's Composite index added 0.7%. Taiwan's Taiex, however, fell 0.6%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 picked up 1.3%.

U.S. markets were closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new record of 52,900.07, an increase of 1.1%. However, the S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged, up less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.8%.

The broader U.S. market received some support from a jobs report indicating that U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs in the previous month. While this figure was lower than the 100,000 jobs economists had predicted and represented a slowdown from May's hiring pace, it could potentially ease inflationary pressures. With oil prices receding from their pre-conflict levels, a slowdown in inflation might reduce the likelihood of multiple interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this year, a prospect welcomed by investors.

Stocks in the cryptocurrency sector also performed strongly, buoyed by a roughly 2% rise in the price of Bitcoin. Robinhood Markets shares increased by 3.8%, and Coinbase Global gained 3.9%.

However, continued declines in computer chip companies exerted downward pressure on major indexes. Concerns have been mounting that the rapid ascent of AI-related stocks may have been overly ambitious and that investments in chips and data centers might not generate the anticipated profits and productivity growth. Micron Technology fell 5.5% after a significant drop the previous day, while Nvidia slipped 1.4% and Lam Research dropped 10.2%. These companies, due to their substantial market capitalization, have a considerable influence on the S&P 500's performance.

In other trading, Brent crude oil rose 0.6% to $72.26 a barrel, and U.S. benchmark crude increased by 0.5% to $69.05 a barrel. The dollar weakened against the Japanese yen, falling to 161.17 yen, and strengthened slightly against the euro, trading at $1.1439.