(July 7): Stocks in Asia are poised to edge higher after a rally in several US technology giants revived confidence that the AI-driven bull market still has room to run.
Equity-index futures pointed to positive opens in Tokyo and Hong Kong. The semiconductor sector and South Korea’s Kospi Index will be in focus after Samsung Electronics Co. reported profit that beat estimates and SK Hynix Inc. kicked off the formal marketing process for its US listing.
Sentiment in Asia was buoyed by a rebound in US technology stocks, with the S&P 500 Index rising 0.7% and the Nasdaq 100 gaining 1.3%. A gauge of US chipmakers climbed 2.2%, snapping a two-day slide.
Elsewhere, West Texas Intermediate crude held a drop on signs of growing oversupply, with Saudi Arabia slashing prices and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz picking up. During the New York session, short-term US Treasury notes edged higher. The yen was steady around 162.08 per dollar even as hedge funds turned the most negative on the Japanese currency since 2007.
A wild ride for tech stocks in recent weeks has left investors looking for fresh validation of the AI trade. While semiconductor shares just wrapped up their best quarter on record, volatility has intensified amid questions over rising competition, potential overcapacity and the payoff from massive investments.
The debate over whether AI exuberance is overdone is less about today’s valuations than whether future earnings can remain at extraordinary levels, according to BlackRock Investment Institute’s team led by Jean Boivin.
See also: Asian shares rise as tech rebound holds, oil slips
“Are we in an AI bubble? We think the answer depends on whether AI can turn today’s scarcity into tomorrow’s abundance,” BII wrote. “Markets are increasingly pricing that outcome, expecting AI to lift productivity and growth enough to sustain today’s extraordinary earnings.”
Whether those earnings can endure – not where valuations sit relative to history – is key, BII said. Still-elevated margins suggest they can, it noted.
“This week, investors will look for signs that tech’s recent volatility is stabilizing,” said Mark Haefele at UBS Chief Investment Office. “Markets will also assess whether recent pressure on hyperscaler shares changes the perceived path for AI capital expenditure.”
See also: European stocks rally to cap best week since May as US futures rise
In Asia, early attention will be on Samsung’s earnings. The company’s quarterly profit surged 19-fold, soaring past elevated expectations due to rocketing demand for memory chips needed in AI data centers.
The world’s largest memory maker reported preliminary operating income of 89.4 trillion won (US$58 billion) in the three months through June, dwarfing its performance for all of 2025. Analysts on average had projected 84.2 trillion won.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 7:49 a.m. Tokyo time
- Hang Seng futures rose 0.1%
- S&P/ASX 200 futures were little changed
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro was little changed at US$1.1444
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 162.08 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7944 per dollar
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Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 0.6% to US$64,200.79
- Ether rose 0.9% to US$1,807.42
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to US$68.69 a barrel
- Spot gold was little changed
Uploaded by Jason Ng
