Asian chip stocks extended their recent gains on sustained investor interest in the artificial-intelligence trade. Escalating Middle East hostilities pushed Brent crude toward $100 a barrel.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1%, helped by gains in both of the nation’s chip giants, SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. The advance came after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, known as the SOX, rose 1.3% in New York. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares rose 0.4%, with the information technology sector making the biggest contribution.
Brent gained as much as 1.6% to $99.50 a barrel, the highest since July. Crude climbed after the US struck Iranian tankers near the vital crude-export hub of Kharg Island, stoking fears of deeper disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz.
With the Iran war now in its seventh month, renewed attacks on energy infrastructure risk keeping oil prices elevated and complicating the outlook for inflation and interest rates. Investors will be watching to see whether the latest escalation further disrupts supplies, with Friday’s US consumer-price report set to provide the next major test of expectations for a Fed rate increase at its Sept. 15-16 meeting.
“With geopolitical tensions and oil prices on the rise, the markets may find it difficult to focus on much beyond the inflation discussion,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.