Chip stocks are hot, and the stock markets in Japan and South Korea are turning in an impressive performance for the first half of the year.

The first half of the year officially came to a close for the Japanese and South Korean stock markets. The South Korean KOSPI index closed up by about 1% today, while the Japanese stock market closed up by about 0.9%. The main driving force behind the increase is the demand for AI storage chips. The South Korean stock market has seen a cumulative increase of about 100% in the first half of the year, reaching historical highs multiple times and briefly touching 9385. The two major technology giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, have risen by about 180% and 310% respectively this year. Thanks to multiple factors such as corporate reform, the prosperity of the AI and semiconductor industry chains, the Nikkei 225 index has risen by about 40% this year, while the TOPIX index has risen by about 17%. Technology stocks have been the main driving force, with chip testing equipment manufacturer Advantest seeing a 65% increase this year, and chip manufacturing equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rising by over 120%.