After three days of sharp declines, AI-related stocks in Asia staged a turnaround on Friday. Among the big winners were the two giants, Hynix and Samsung, which had fallen sharply earlier in the week.
Historic rise
Hynix, which manufactures memory chips for AI systems, among other things, rose 30 percent, while competitor Samsung rose 27 percent. The rise in South Korea is historic.
The last time one of the world's leading stock markets saw such a big rise was in 1999, when the Brazilian equivalent rose 33 percent. For example, the New York Stock Exchange's broad S&P 500 index has risen by at most 16.6 percent (1993) in a single trading day.
Today's recovery comes after the New York stock exchanges yesterday noted strong gains for the tech sector, for example, Microsoft had its best trading day in 18 years with an increase of almost 16 percent.
Today's rise may look like a relief rally, but it is supported by improving fundamentals rather than just bargain buying, Jung In-Yun, CEO of Fibonacci Asset Management Global, told Bloomberg.
Biggest fall since 2008
Friday's bull run follows declines of a total of 17 percent in recent days, linked to concerns about increased Chinese competition in the AI sector. The turbulence has prompted South Korean authorities to step in with various regulations and trading on the stock exchange has also been halted on several occasions. The decline for July is now 22 percent, the largest single-month drop since 2008.
Elsewhere in Asia, there were also clear gains on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed up 3.2 percent.
