Australian stocks hit a record high on strength in mining and bank stocks, while South Korean markets rallied to new highs on gains in chipmakers

Asian stocks rose on Thursday buoyed chiefly by strong gains in technology stocks.

Australian stocks hit a record high on strength in mining and bank stocks, while South Korean markets rallied to new highs on gains in chipmakers– particularly Samsung.

Chinese and Hong Kong markets remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

KOSPI index was the best performer in Asia, surging around 3% to a record high of 5,673.11 points.

The KOSPI was boosted chiefly by gains in tech stocks, with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd rallying more than 4% to a record high after media reports that the company planned to raise the prices of its advanced memory chips, amid outsized demand from the artificial intelligence industry.

Samsung extended recent gains after it said earlier this month that it had begun mass production of HBM4 chips– a key component of AI processors.

Samsung and peer SK Hynix Inc – two of the world’s largest memory chip makers– have emerged as clear winners of the AI trade, hitting a series of new valuation highs as growing demands for AI infrastructure saw the companies clock huge sales.

A looming shortage of memory chips also allowed both firms to ramp up their selling prices in recent quarters– a trend that is broadly expected to continue in the coming months.

ASX 200 climbed more than 1% to a record high of 9,118.30 points, boosted by gains in heavyweight mining and bank stocks.

Rio Tinto Ltd, the second-largest miner on the ASX, gained more than 2% after it said it had increased its investment in a Canadian lithium venture. Australia’s “big four” banks added between 1.3% and 3%.

Mixed labour data also lent some support to stocks, as a softer-than-expected increase in employment in January drove hopes that the Reserve Bank will have less impetus to raise interest rates in the coming months.

Broader Asian markets were largely positive, with Nikkei 225 index up 0.9% on tech, while a decline in the yen also benefited export-oriented sectors. The TOPIX index added 1%.

Straits Times index increased 1%, while futures for Nifty 50 index advanced 0.3%, with tech names expected to see some bargain buying after recent declines.