A fresh burst of chipmaker excitement around artificial intelligence and some punchy U.S. jobs data have reinvigorated Wall St and Tokyo, even as Chinese markets resume their slide and a surprising UK retail plunge showed trouble elsewhere. Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, the world's biggest semiconductor maker and major Apple supplier, set an otherwise unremarkable earnings season alight on Thursday by projecting more than 20% growth in 2024 revenue on booming demand for high-end chips used in AI. The buzz sent the chipmaking sector surging around the world over the past 24 hours, with TSMC's Taipei-listed shares jumping 6.5% on Friday.
(Bloomberg) Foreign investors bought a net 1.2 trillion yen ($8.1 billion) of Japanese stocks last week, their biggest purchase since October, data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Thursday.Most Read from BloombergBlinken Stranded After Boeing 737 Breaks Down on Davos TripStocks Drop as Solid Data Fuel Fed-Pivot Repricing: Markets WrapApple to Sell Watches Without Oxygen Feature After Legal SetbackJPMorgan Says Hacker Attempts Have Increased This YearDimon Says China Risk-Reward Equatio
(Bloomberg) Japan, Asia’s most-popular market, also has its detractors. Most Read from BloombergBlinken’s Return From Davos Was Delayed After Plane Broke DownPakistan’s Army Strikes Back at Iran as Both Sides Urge CalmApple to Sell Watches Without Oxygen Feature After Legal SetbackAirstrikes on Yemen Bring New Level of Chaos to Shipping in the Southern Red SeaNasdaq 100 Hits Record High in Tech-Fueled Rebound: Markets WrapInvestor enthusiasm for Japanese equities dominates the region, with 59
Chinese investors have been piling billions of yuan into exchange-traded funds that track Japanese stocks, fuelling a bull run that has helped Tokyo’s benchmark index surpass its counterpart in Shanghai.