South Korean stock market KOSPI index rises, chip manufacturers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics rebound.

The KOSPI index of the South Korean stock market rose by as much as 4.1%, narrowing the decline for the week. Chip manufacturers' stock prices rebounded, despite escalating tensions between the US and Iran and rising oil prices. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics rose by 9.2% and 5.1% respectively, becoming the biggest drivers of the index's rise. "The concept of investing in artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving in real time," said Jongmin Shim, an analyst at Citic CLSA Korea. "Considering that the current AI deployment cycle is still in the early stages, coupled with expectations for demand for physical AI and humanoid robots in the next decade, we believe that semiconductor demand is unlikely to experience significant structural slowdown in the foreseeable future."