By Ronnie Harui and Kimberley Kao
South Korean stocks surged Friday as strong U.S. tech earnings revived enthusiasm for artificial-intelligence spending, while the yen weakened further after the Bank of Japan stood pat. Gains in chip stocks led most regional equity markets higher.
Asian chip and technology shares rallied after earnings from major U.S. companies eased investor concerns about the viability of massive data-center investments. The PHLX Semiconductor Sector index jumped 8% Thursday.
Amazon.com reported accelerating growth its cloud-computing business alongside its investment in data centers, cheering investors, while Microsoft delivered blockbuster revenue growth at its cloud-computing unit.
"Stronger results from a leading e-commerce and cloud service provider after the close [Thursday] reinforced the view that AI-related capital expenditure continues to generate robust demand and attractive returns," Commerzbank Research analysts said in a note, referring to Amazon's results.
