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Informist, Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Asian markets open higher, KOSPI up almost 6%

 

MUMBAI--0745 IST--Markets in Asia opened higher Wednesday as investors followed the rebound of chip stocks in the US markets. South Korea's KOSPI lead the gains and rose almost 6%. Index heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics rose 6% and 8%, respectively. The small cap Kosdaq rose 2%. Japan's Nikkei rose nearly 2%. 

 

The Japanese yen weakened to a four-decade low of 163.15 per dollar Wednesday. The country's Finance Minister, Satsuki Katayama, said that the country was ready to take "decisive action", if needed, Reuters reported.

 

"Intervention risks are basically a reality every day," CNBC quoted Dominic Schnider, head of Commodities and APAC Forex at UBS. He told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" that Japan's authorities are likely to remain on alert over excessive yen weakness, but argued strong action from the Bank of Japan would be needed to stabilise the currency.

 

Japan's exports grew at their fastest pace in June since November 2022, rising 19.3% from a year earlier, CNBC reported. The exports were boosted by shipments of semiconductor equipment and a weak yen. The growth in exports beat the expectations of 18.6% rise from economists polled by Reuters, and was higher than 16.8% seen in May. Shipments to Asia rose 22.7% and exports to Taiwan jumped 46.4%. Exports to China increased 17.6% and shipments to the US rose 13% on year.

 

Following are the levels of key indices in the region at 0745 IST: 

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Nikkei 225 Day	67517.28	1.9
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	4067.66	1.3
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8811.6	0.2
KOSPI Index	7151.46	6.0
Hang Seng Index	24989.56	(-)0.6
CSI 300 Index	4754.78	0.3
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	5488.57	(-)0.7

 

(Deesha Jadhav)

 

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Equity Alert: US mkts close up after better-than-expected corporate earnings

 

MUMBAI--7000 IST--Main indices in the US closed higher Tuesday as better-than-expected earnings from blue chip companies such as 3M and General Motors boosted market sentiment. The Nasdaq Composite led the gains and closed more than 1% higher. Chipmaker VanEck Semiconductor ETF rebounded 4?ter falling almost 9% Monday. 

 

A rebound in semiconductor stocks supported the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index. The index closed 5.2% higher, recovering from the 20?ll Friday. Investors weighed whether the strong demand for Artificial Intelligence infrastructure and software will continue to justify the elevated valuations across the technology sector ahead of earnings.

 

"Q2 earnings season is ramping up, but with most hyperscalers yet to report, the market is still waiting for the definitive read on how AI investment is being monetized and translated into future capital spending," CNBC quoted Julia Hermann, global market strategist at New York Life Investment Management, as saying.

 

Software company Pegasystems shares fell 12?ter the company reported second quarter results which fell short of the Street's expectations. Investors await earnings from ServiceNow, International Business Machines, Tesla, Texas Instruments, Alphabet, and American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Investors will monitor updates on AI spending, cloud demand, corporate technology budgets, and the outlook for the second half of the year.

 

Shares of 3M rose more than 7?ter the company raised its full-year profit forecast and Danaher shares fell 12?ter it trimmed its outlook for growth and also reported lower than expected revenue from its biotechnology unit.

 

Following are the closing levels of major US indices Tuesday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	52224.64	0.7
NASDAQ Composite	25837.21	1.3
S&P 500	7509.2	0.9

 

(Deesha Jadhav)

 

US$1 = INR 96.23

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Pankaj Aher

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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