SoftBank jumps 10% as Asia tech stocks track Wall Street AI rally

Asian technology stocks surged Wednesday after a strong Wall Street rally overnight that saw robust corporate earnings and easing oil prices push major U.S. indexes to fresh records.

Shares of SoftBank Group surged more than 10%, while chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron added  3.64%. Advantest jumped 7%, and Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia rose 6.34%.

In South Korea, SK Hynix jumped 6.9%, while Samsung Electronics gained over 4%. Seoul Semiconductor popped 7.6%.

Tech stocks have been seeing heightened volatility, with South Korea's semiconductor-heavy market whipsawing between steep losses and record gains in recent sessions.

Ortus Advisors' strategist Andrew Jackson said in a note on Wednesday the latest rally in U.S. semiconductor stocks reinforced the bullish outlook for Asian AI names, pointing to a surge in chipmakers and infrastructure suppliers overnight.

Jackson expects SoftBank to further extend gains after Arm Holdings, its majority-owned chip design subsidiary, jumped overnight on optimism over higher AI-related data center royalties and CPU development plans.

U.S. stocks had a banner day Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average scaling fresh record highs, thanks to strong earnings and another decline in oil prices driven by hopes that the Strait of Hormuz could soon reopen.

The Nasdaq Composite popped 2.59% to close at 26,584.99, as Palantir Technologies rallied over 29%.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington and Tehran could reach a deal within days to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns over global energy supplies.