Jun 30, 2026 · 7 min

Asian markets surge as chipmakers and AI drive historic quarterly gains

SMIC Up, TSMC Jumps, Samsung Expansion

The rapid expansion of Asian semiconductor capacity and AI capabilities is redrawing the global tech landscape and driving record capital inflows.

3 key takeaways

1Chinese stocks rallied as DeepSeek AI model improvements boosted investor confidence in domestic technology.
2TSMC received a major price target upgrade from Morgan Stanley, driving Taiwan's benchmark index higher.
3South Korean tech giants are launching massive capital expansions to secure global chipmaking dominance.],mentions:[{ref:

The brief

Asian markets are closing out a spectacular quarter, fueled by a massive surge in semiconductor and technology stocks across China, Taiwan, and South Korea.

In China, the CSI 300 Index rallied on the back of artificial intelligence model improvements from DeepSeek, signaling a renewed momentum for domestic tech firms.

Taiwan's TAIEX index outperformed after Morgan Stanley issued a major price target upgrade for TSMC, cementing the chipmaker's dominant role in the global AI supply chain.

Meanwhile, South Korea is witnessing massive investment plans from Samsung and SK Group to expand chipmaking capacity alongside a rapidly growing wealth management sector.

What was said on this episode

6 statements · 5 positive · 1 mixed

Anthony Stevenson DeepSeek model improvementsPositive1:13
DeepSeek’s improved model efficiency helps China’s AI ecosystem use computing power more efficiently.
“they're basically charging clients for it now. That allows you to use your computing power more efficiently and that's pretty much helping the entire kind of AI ecosystem in China.”
Listen at 1:13
Anthony Stevenson Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC)Positive2:03
Morgan Stanley views TSMC as structurally strong with an almost monopolistic foundry position.
“They see the structural strength in that story on tsmc. They are a foundry business without equal and have a pretty much monopolistic position there.”
Listen at 2:03
Anthony Stevenson Taiwan AI and custom silicon industryPositive2:11
Taiwan benefits as AI shifts from model training toward inference and custom silicon.
“Taiwan in general is also benefiting from a move in AI away from training models into using models and making custom silicon to do that.”
Listen at 2:11
Anthony Stevenson South Korean banks’ wealth management businessPositive2:47
Strong South Korean earnings and trading are driving banks into wealth management.
“South Koreans are making so much money and they're trading so much that banks are chasing this wealth management business and are doing really quite well.”
Listen at 2:47
Anthony Stevenson Emerging marketsPositive3:39
Emerging markets had their strongest quarter since 2008.
“Emerging markets in general have had the best quarter since I started trading, which is like 2008.”
Listen at 3:39
Anthony Stevenson Asian market leadershipMixed4:08
Asian market leadership may continue in tech or rotate into China internet stocks or India.
“the biggest question is will we continue to see momentum continue to go higher, which is the tech stocks and the trade or will there be some value rotation into the China Internet space or maybe even India?”
Listen at 4:08

Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.

Featuring

Anthony Stevens

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