The surge in artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping investment landscapes across Asian stock markets, with each country benefiting from different sectors. In the first half of this year, South Korea led with high-bandwidth memory (HBM), Japan with semiconductor equipment, and China with AI technology stocks.
According to data from exchanges in South Korea, Japan, and China, SK Hynix, which dominates the HBM market, saw its stock price soar from 677,000 won at the beginning of the year to 2,343,000 won on July 6, marking a 246.1% increase. Meanwhile, Japan's Advantest, a semiconductor inspection equipment firm, rose by 39.6%, and China's Cambricon, an AI chip company, increased by 46.8%. In contrast, major Chinese platform companies Alibaba and Tencent experienced declines of 35.6% and 27.4%, respectively, highlighting a mixed performance within the AI sector.
The stock market trends also varied by country. The KOSPI index in South Korea rose by 86.8%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 increased by 34.5%, driven by strong performances in AI semiconductors and supply chain companies. Conversely, China's CSI 300 index only gained 2.6%, and the Shanghai Composite index rose by just 0.4%. Although AI-related stocks showed strength, the overall market in China did not experience a similar uplift.
In South Korea, the focus on HBM and memory semiconductors, led by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, has directly benefited from increased AI investments. In Japan, the semiconductor equipment and machinery sectors have thrived due to expanded investments in AI and data centers. KB Securities noted that the outlook for Japan's machinery sector is improving due to increased AI-related capital expenditures.
In contrast, analysts suggest that the focus of AI investment in China is shifting from platform companies to domestic technology stocks. Shinhan Investment Corp. recently stated in its 'Q3 China Stock Market Strategy' report that Hong Kong tech stocks are seen as payers in AI investment, while domestic tech stocks on the STAR Market and ChiNext are viewed as receivers benefiting from the AI hardware supply chain. This indicates that the direct benefits of expanded AI investments are concentrating on domestic semiconductor and AI hardware companies.
Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, commented, "Recently, global investment banks like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have warned of a slowdown in earnings momentum for the semiconductor sector, suggesting that expectations may be too high and the risk-reward ratio is not attractive. This has led to profit-taking by market participants who have felt pressure from the recent surge in stock prices." He added, "In the short term, increased volatility is inevitable, but considering the expansion of data center investments and expectations for TSMC's performance, the likelihood of a significant market contraction is limited."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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