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Asian stocks rallied on Wednesday as investors returned to semiconductor shares after a bruising sell-off, taking their cue from a Wall Street rebound even as Brent crude pushed further above $91 a barrel. MSCI's Asia-Pacific gauge outside Japan gained 1.2%, while South Korea's Kospi surged more than 6% and Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.9%.
South Korea and Taiwan have been the world's best-performing stock markets in 2026, driven by AI-related demand for chips and memory. The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF has surged over 70% and the iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF has gained near 50%, fueled by memory makers and TSMC.
When it comes to broad international equities exposure, the sum of the parts is traditionally greater than the whole. Today, however, single-country exposure is also proving that individual parts can deliver a whole lot of performance.
Korea's country ETF booked triple-digit gains while most Asia funds left investors watching from the sidelines, and the same AI hardware boom that drove that run is quietly powering two other markets that rarely show up in the conversation.
The supply chain shortage in Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), and more specifically, in High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips is a big reason why the memory chip “Big 3”: SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron Technology – have all been soaring with triple digit 1-year returns in 2026.
The 2026 rally in North Asian equities has been led by the two countries that fabricate the world's most advanced semiconductors.
Asian markets began the week with a rare pocket of calm. Investors who had spent days watching the Strait of Hormuz, oil screens and central-bank signals found enough comfort in fresh US-Iran diplomacy to buy risk again, even if the relief looked fragile.
Asian currencies consolidated against the dollar before first decision by a FOMC led by Chairman Kevin Warsh later.