Asian stock indexes rise after U.S. market sets record

Stock markets across Asia mostly advanced on Friday, taking their cue from a fresh record close for the Dow on Wall Street, as some of the AI-linked shares battered in this week's sell-off found their feet again while others kept falling. The volatility was calmer than the heavy selling seen a day earlier, when worries about stretched technology valuations sent semiconductor shares tumbling across the region.

At the time of writing, South Korea's Kospi led the bounce, climbing over 4% to recoup part of the nearly 8% plunge it suffered on Thursday. Samsung Electronics, the country's largest company and a major chipmaker, jumped 7%, while smaller memory rival SK Hynix rose 4.9%.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1%, helped by a 6.6% leap in memory maker Kioxia, although chip-equipment supplier Tokyo Electron slipped 2.5%. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.7% and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.3% and Taiwan's Taiex bucked the trend, easing 0.6%.

European and U.S.

The UK's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX 30, France's CAC 40 and Italy's FTSE MIB all traded between 0.1% and 0.3% higher. U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday, but the Dow still managed a fresh peak, rising 1.1% to 52,900. The broader S&P 500 ended virtually flat despite seven in ten of its members gaining, held back by another retreat in chip stocks, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.8%.

Sentiment drew support from data showing U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs last month, well below the 100,000 forecast and a slowdown on May. A softer labour market could ease inflation pressure and, with oil back below its pre-war levels, may lessen the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates repeatedly this year, an outcome investors would welcome.