Asian shares gain as tech shares rise

Kospi led the gains, jumping 3.5%, Nikkei 225 gained 1.2% to 50,897.20, Hang Seng advanced 0.8% to 26,445.65, while S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.7% at 8,826.50

Asian shares rose on Monday, lifted by technology shares as they bounced back from last week’s jitters over the run up in stocks related to artificial intelligence.

Kospi led the gains, jumping 3.5%. Computer chip maker SK Hynix, which is cooperating with Nvidia on artificial intelligence, soared 5.5%. Its bigger rival, Samsung Electronics, was up 2.4%.

Nikkei 225 gained 1.2% to 50,897.20, lifted by big gains for AI related shares such as chip maker Tokyo Electron, which soared 4.7%.

The Hang Seng advanced 0.8% to 26,445.65 and the Shanghai Composite index was barely changed, at 2,630.42.

S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.7% at 8,826.50.

Taiex climbed 1.2%, while the Sensex in India added 0.5%.

On Friday, stock indexes closed mixed on Wall Street, clocking their first weekly loss in the last four. The S&P 500 inched 0.1% higher, to 6,728.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to 46,987.10.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq dropped as much as 2.1%, but recovered most of its losses, shedding 0.2% to 23,004.54.

Major indexes wobbled throughout most of the week, weighed down by technology stocks, especially several big names with huge valuations that give them outsized influence over the direction of the market. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, dropped 2.1% and Broadcom declined 1.7%.

Wall Street remains focused on the latest quarterly reports and forecasts from U.S. companies.

Payments company Block, which operates the Square and Cash App businesses, dipped 7.7% after turning in results that fell short of forecasts. Exercise equipment maker Peloton climbed 14.2% after its results beat estimates.

Expedia Group soared 17.5% after beating analysts’ quarterly earnings forecasts.