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.