South Korea’s KOSPI (Korea Composite Stock Price Index) surged past the 6,000-mark for the first time on February 25, 2026. This momentum was driven by a rally in semiconductor stocks fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) optimism. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also reached a historic milestone, rising 2.30 percent to 58,626.00, marking its first time above 58,000. Moreover, the broader Topix index also rose by 0.83 percent. This surge follows a positive domestic political development in South Korea earlier in the month, which bolstered investor confidence in the country’s tech supply chain.
Global Markets Surge on AI Optimism
Global markets are witnessing a significant shift with the rising investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence continuing to drive regional indices to unprecedented levels. The KOSPI opened the session up 0.89 percent at 6,022.7, marking a 45 percent increase for the year. This milestone was achieved approximately one month after the index first breached the 5,000-mark on January 22, underscoring the remarkable pace of the rally. The momentum is largely driven by a global shortage of memory chips. This limited supply has driven the Index heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics to roughly double in value since October, which were up by 0.6% and 0.88%, respectively.
Advantest, Japan’s leading semiconductor testing company, rose 7.5%. The global markets are closely eyeing the Q4 earnings release of Nvidia, the sentimental anchor, which rose 0.68% and closed at $192.85. The primary reason for the U.S markets’ rise is strong tech earnings and optimism around Nvidia’s upcoming results. The gains in Australia’s S&P/ASX200, which climbed 1.7% to close the trading at 9,128.3, reinforced the momentum in the Asian markets. While Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and Taiwan’s benchmark stock index rose 0.45% and 1.8%, respectively.
Additionally, the EURO STOXX 50 also posted gains, reflecting a global enthusiasm for AI-related infrastructure and technology. Moreover, Bitcoin also jumped approximately 2%, recovering to the $65,000 levels after sliding below $63,000 briefly on Tuesday. As in the case of currency, the Japanese yen stabilized at 155.62 per dollar following a drop of 0.8 percent during the previous session, as the markets remained sensitive to potential government interventions.
Software and Semiconductor Stocks Drive Overnight Gains
Investors are also assessing the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, where he noted that most international partners remain committed to existing trade and investment agreements. The U.S West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.72% at $66.1 per barrel, while the Brent Crude futures pointed up 0.73% to $71.29 per barrel.
The futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 showed notable gains, although Trump’s speech itself has not triggered a major market reaction or price surge. However, elsewhere, in the region, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan grew by 1.61 percent.
Additionally, overnight, the U.S. equities faced a surge, with gains in Advanced Micro Devices and software stocks. The shares of AMD jumped 8.8% after Meta Platforms announced a multi-year deal with the semiconductor company.
