Asian equities surged on Thursday after strong earnings and forecasts from chip giants Micron and Qualcomm helped alleviate some concerns over the red-hot AI rally that has pushed global stocks to record highs.Tech-heavy markets in Japan and South Korea rose sharply after Micron said its customers had committed US$22 billion for its memory chips, while Qualcomm anticipates $15 billion in sales from its data center business by 2029.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 1.3 percent higher in early trading. Japan's Nikkei rose over 2 percent while South Korea's KOSPI, the world's best-performing stock market in 2026, gained 5.5 percent.
Futures for S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent while Nasdaq futures jumped 1.8 percent.
"Tech stocks received a massively needed shot in the arm after the bell when Micron delivered its earnings report," said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, noting that data was suggesting broader cooling in positioning that could challenge tech's momentum in the near term.
Investor concern that valuations for AI-related companies have become stretched following years of gains has weighed on markets in recent days, leading to volatile sessions.
