Asian stock markets collectively surged, with South Korea once rising over 3%, and the Nikkei expanding gains to 2%.

On July 10, Asia-Pacific stock markets broadly rose. South Korea's KOSPI index once surged over 3%, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both rising over 4%. Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained over 1,000 points, up 1.51%. The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose 0.6% overall.

The previous day, Wall Street staged a strong rebound led by tech stocks, reversing the sharp sell-off in chip stocks seen earlier this week. Asian markets continued the rally on Friday, with sentiment clearly warming.

Currently, the KOSPI index has narrowed its gain to 2.6%. The Nikkei 225 index expanded its intraday gain to 2%.

SK Hynix's $26.5 billion ADR: Core catalyst for Korean stock market rally

The gains in South Korea's stock market were particularly prominent, with SK Hynix being the most direct driver.

According to Bloomberg, SK Hynix completed a $26.5 billion offering of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), with the proceeds to be used to support its expanding capital expenditure plans in AI computing devices. The ADRs will begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker "SKHYV" on Friday, and officially convert to "SKHY" for regular trading on July 13.

SK Hynix's Seoul stock price rose during the session before turning down 0.1%.

Samsung Electronics also surged over 4% before narrowing its gain to 2.5%.

According to Bloomberg, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics both plan to increase investment within South Korea as part of a trillion-dollar industry initiative led by the South Korean government.

AI narrative returns, but the market begins to ask "who is making money"

Earlier this week, chip stocks experienced a sharp decline, with market doubts about AI investment returns heating up. However, Thursday's rebound showed that investors still have confidence in the AI investment boom.

Anthony Saglimbene of Ameriprise believes that the market direction over the next month will depend on earnings season performance. He said: "Companies not only need to beat expectations, but also need to prove that profit margins remain high, guidance is solid or even better than analyst expectations, and that tech earnings growth still has enough breadth to support market valuations."

On the capital expenditure front, Micron Technology announced plans to increase its investment in new U.S. factories to $250 billion to meet AI-driven demand growth.

Jeff Buchbinder of LPL Financial pointed out that AI will continue to be the core driver of the market through the second half of 2026, but the narrative is evolving — "Investors should focus less on who spends the most and more on who can generate quantifiable returns from these investments."

Bloomberg macro strategist Edward Harrison also noted that Thursday's broad rebound in U.S. stocks needs further confirmation, "not only from highly cyclical financial stocks in the upcoming earnings season, but also from overall earnings growth support, and cooperation from inflation."

U.S.-Iran situation: The market prices it as "controlled escalation"

On the geopolitical front, the exchange of airstrikes between the U.S. and Iran did not trigger market panic.

Brent crude oil edged down 0.2% to $76.10 per barrel; WTI crude fell 0.3% to $71.88.

Elias Haddad of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. noted that the market sees the attack as "another round of controlled escalation," with the basic assumption being that the economy can absorb the shock. The U.S. also indicated that negotiations would continue despite the recent airstrikes.

Bond market: U.S. 30-year Treasury auction yield hits nearly 20-year high

On the bond market front, according to Bloomberg, the U.S. 30-year Treasury auction recorded its highest yield in nearly 20 years, highlighting investor demand for higher returns amid expanding bond supply. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell 3 basis points to 4.55% on Thursday, and was roughly flat on Friday.

In Japan, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said she would not comment on specific bond yield levels, emphasizing that specific monetary policy tools are decided by the Bank of Japan, and noted that the BOJ can adjust monetary policy on its own regardless of government statements; she had previously predicted a gradual rise in interest rates and said she would ensure fiscal sustainability to win market trust. Affected by this, Japanese government bond yields generally fell: the 10-year yield dropped 4.5 basis points to 2.830%, the 20-year yield fell 7 basis points to 3.795%, and the 40-year yield fell 7 basis points to 3.965%.

Other market developments: Currency markets were generally calm. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was roughly flat, the euro was at $1.1434, the yen strengthened, briefly rising to 162.09 per dollar, and the offshore yuan was at 6.7950 per dollar.

Cryptocurrencies edged lower, with Bitcoin down 0.1% to $63,173.62 and Ethereum down 0.3% to $1,742.76.

Spot gold was roughly flat.

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