St. Louis runs on the heels of AI fever and Asian chip records

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor)- Stmicroelectronics is taking the spotlight at Piazza Affari in the wake of renewed optimism in Asian tech for artificial intelligence. The group led by Jean-Marc Chery - which had already specified in its quarterly accounts that it expects an increase in "artificial intelligence capacity" in 2026, described as "a breakthrough year" - is taking advantage, on the one hand, of the long wave of Nasdaq and S&P records on Friday, driven by star-studded chipmakers, and on the other, of confidence in the prospects for AI growth that have boosted Asian listings. In particular, in the spotlight was the Korean Kospi, which ended the session up 4.3%, reaching an intraday high of 7,876.60 points. In total, the index has ploughed some 86% since the start of the year, consolidating its status as one of the world's best performing markets thanks to the chip boost, according to traders. Among stocks, Samsung Electronics gained more than 5% and SK Hynix more than 10%, with both chipmakers hitting record highs.

In general, investors, traders explain to Bloomberg, are betting on rising global profits in the wake of increased spending on AI. As such, they are turning towards chip companies, seen as the 'picks and shovels' of the AI supply chain. Narrowing the lens on South Korea, it is precisely the focus on the chip production cycle that has prompted Jp Morgan to revise upwards its targets for the Kospi, now set at between 9,000 and 10,000 points, in an optimistic scenario (from the range of 7,000 to 8,500 set at the end of April). The US bank's move follows that of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which last week raised its target for the Kospi to 9,000, citing stronger earnings momentum in Asia.

Looking instead at tech in the Old Continent, Sap in Frankfurt and Asm in Amsterdam rose.