The US-Iran conflict has pushed oil prices close to the $100 mark, Asian chip stocks continued their upward trend, with SK Hynix rising more than 3%, and gold and silver both rising.

The situation in the Middle East has deteriorated sharply, with Brent crude oil approaching the $100 mark, while Asian chip stocks continued their upward trend, driven by the ongoing boom in AI trading.

South Korea's KOSPI index extended its gains to 2% on Wednesday, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both rising, after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 1.3% in U.S. trading on Tuesday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6% overall, with the information technology sector contributing the most to the gains.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the U.S. military destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in retaliation for the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' two ballistic missile strikes against U.S. warships over the past two days. As a result, Brent crude oil prices climbed as much as 1.8% to $99.67 per barrel, bringing the year-to-date increase to over 60%.

AI investment enthusiasm fuels Asian technology sector

Chip stocks continued their recent strong performance, becoming a major highlight in the Asia-Pacific market.

Wall Street News reported that Qualcomm announced a collaboration with Amazon to develop custom chips for AWS AI infrastructure. The partnership spans multiple product generations, including chips that run AI services and those responsible for interconnecting internal computer components. Qualcomm stated that orders for these chips could reach up to $60 billion over the next decade.

AI investment enthusiasm continued in early trading on Wednesday, with the South Korean KOSPI index rising more than 2% at one point, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising 0.6% overall, with the information technology sector contributing the most.

Both SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics recorded gains, with the former rising nearly 5% at one point.

The Nikkei 225 and Topix indices rose initially but then fell back, with the morning gains narrowing to 0.3%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3%.

Oil prices consolidated at high levels, while the yen remained strong.

The energy market remained the focus of attention that day.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the U.S. military destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in retaliation for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' two ballistic missile strikes against U.S. warships over the past two days. Iran subsequently launched missiles at Jordan and, through Iranian state television citing a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned all crew members of oil tankers near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to abandon ship immediately.

Brent crude rose as much as 1.8% to $99.67 a barrel, while WTI crude rose more than 1.3% to above $94 a barrel. The continued risk of attacks on energy infrastructure has further increased uncertainty regarding the supply prospects of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil export route.

Darrell Fletcher, Managing Director of Commodities at Bannockburn Capital Markets, stated that the "path of least resistance" for oil prices is a strong and steady rise. He noted:

The fundamentals for products remain bullish, with global inventories and reserves continuing to decline. Following the usual pattern, the US and Iran will continue to retaliate and issue warnings to each other.

Rising oil prices are amplifying market concerns about the path of inflation and interest rates. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note briefly broke through the key 4.8% level on Tuesday and remained near that level in early Asian trading.

In the foreign exchange market, the yen strengthened for the third consecutive day, rising to around 153.4 against the dollar. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell slightly by 0.1%.

Wall Street Insights reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessant publicly challenged short sellers in the market, claiming that he actually had inside information when making market judgments, which boosted the yen to some extent.

Spot gold rose 0.54% to $4,372.77 per ounce; Bitcoin edged up 0.4% to $78,803.

Spot silver prices surged by more than 1% at one point, before falling back to 0.8%, remaining within a volatile triangle pattern.

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