Futures jump as chipmakers surge after Japan and Korea bounce back from AI sell-off

US stock futures climbed on Monday as Asian equity markets staged a sharp recovery, led by semiconductor stocks tied to the AI infrastructure buildout. South Korea’s Kospi surged 3.6% to 6,747.95, clawing back a chunk of the 4.5% decline it suffered just the day before. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied 3.3% to 66,232.19.

The chip stocks driving the rebound

Samsung Electronics led the charge in South Korea with a 6.2% gain. SK Hynix added 4.1%. Over in Japan, Kioxia Holdings surged 17.2%. Advantest climbed 7.7%. Taiwan’s TSMC tacked on 3.9%.

What caused the sell-off in the first place

The Kospi had been on an absolute tear, gaining more than 50% year-to-date heading into late June, driven almost entirely by the AI narrative. Then the Kospi shed more than 20% from its highs over the prior month as investors questioned whether AI revenue was actually materializing fast enough to justify the valuations being assigned to hardware companies.