AI spending: SK Hynix profit jumps 630% as global markets rally

SK Hynix reported a 630 percent year-on-year surge in third-quarter operating profit to 83.33 trillion won ($62.8 billion) on Wednesday. The announcement propelled the Seoul KOSPI index up 5.84 percent as of 03:00 GMT, marking the strongest gain among major Asian markets.

Shares of the memory chip maker rose more than 8 percent following the results. In other Asian hubs, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo climbed 1.26 percent and the TAIEX in Taipei gained 1.32 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney edged up 0.11 percent.

In the United States, all three major indexes rose on Tuesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led with a 1.18 percent gain. The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.03 percent.

Five of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks finished higher. Tesla led the group with a 4.04 percent jump. Amazon gained 1.61 percent, Apple rose 0.93 percent, and Alphabet climbed 0.9 percent. Nvidia, the world’s most valuable public company, gained almost 1 percent after announcing a $3 billion investment in Meta’s equity offering.

Meta fell 1.64 percent and Microsoft dropped 0.24 percent. Other tech names moved sharply, with Advanced Micro Devices up 5.45 percent, Broadcom up 4 percent, and Intel up 3.61 percent. Investors await earnings reports from Microsoft and Alphabet on Wednesday, Amazon on Thursday, and Apple on Monday.

Anthropic filed for an initial public offering on Monday. The company reported a net loss of $80.7 billion in the first half of 2026 on revenue of $16.3 billion. Gartner forecasts global AI investment will reach $2.7 trillion in 2026 and $3.6 trillion in 2027.

Oil prices rose about 1 percent as Asian markets opened on Wednesday. Brent crude futures stood at approximately $115 per barrel, up 59 percent from levels before the US-Israel war on Iran began. Hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis continue in the region.