Seoul — SK Hynix shares jumped over 7% Friday to their highest point since 2000 after the South Korean chipmaker said it had finished developing HBM4, the next generation of high-bandwidth memory essential to artificial intelligence applications.
The rally was the ninth straight day of gains for the stock, a sign of increasing investor optimism in the company's position at the forefront of advanced chip technology. HBM4 is anticipated to enhance SK Hynix's position in supporting AI models and computing-intensive data, a field where U.S. chipmaker Nvidia is now the leader.
The development also lifted sentiment in markets throughout Asia. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose more than 1.6%, and Alibaba and Baidu stocks gained 6% and 10% respectively, following reports that the two companies were using in-house chips to train up AI systems. Japan's Nikkei 225 also hit a new high, and South Korea's Kospi increased by 0.83%.
Global stocks have been rising, thanks to softening inflation pressures and hopes for U.S. interest rate reductions. On Wall Street, all three major indexes reached record highs overnight as investors wagered that the Federal Reserve will act to cut rates next week.
