Seoul shares leapt to historic highs on Wednesday as a semiconductor-fuelled rally pushed South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI above the 7,000 mark for the first time and drove Samsung Electronics past the $1 trillion valuation milestone. The rebound, which accompanied the reopening of several Asian markets after holidays, underscored growing investor appetite for AI-related chip makers.
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) surged about 13% on the session, a jump that took its market capitalisation above $1 trillion and momentarily left it worth more than Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. The jump put the electronics giant within striking distance of U.S. retail behemoth Walmart, highlighting the dramatic rotation into semiconductor and hardware names that feed artificial intelligence projects.
The strength in Seoul reflected a broader regional tide. China’s CSI300 index climbed to its highest level since January 2022 as trading resumed, helped by a private services-sector gauge that signalled faster expansion in April and stronger new-business growth. Japanese markets stayed closed for a national holiday, muting some of the overnight regional activity, but the return of liquidity in South Korea and China was enough to lift global risk sentiment.
Commodity markets reacted to geopolitical developments. Oil prices fell for a second day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would pause a mission to escort commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, citing “great progress” toward a comprehensive agreement with Iran. Market participants took the announcement as a reduction in immediate naval risk, trimming a geopolitical risk premium on crude.
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Risk-sensitive currencies climbed in line with the equities rally. The Australian dollar rose about 0.7% to $0.72400 — near a four-year high — while the New Zealand dollar gained roughly 0.9% to $0.59380, its strongest level in almost two months. Those moves reflected both improved risk appetite and bullish sentiment toward the region’s export-oriented economies amid ongoing semiconductor-strength and tech demand.
European futures pointed to a positive open, with pan-region contracts up roughly 0.6%, German DAX futures up about 0.4% and FTSE futures showing gains near 1%. Investors were watching for whether the momentum in AI-linked stocks and semiconductors could sustain through broader markets as U.S. and European trading resumed and earnings season continued to feed fresh flow into technology and chipmakers.
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The session illustrated how a mix of sector-specific catalysts — primarily the nascent AI trade — and geopolitical signal changes can quickly reshuffle global valuations. With Samsung’s milestone drawing attention to the scale of money rotating into semiconductor names, markets will be watching whether the rally broadens beyond a handful of beneficiaries or consolidates as investors price in the evolving landscape for AI hardware and related supply chains.
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