MSCI’s broad Asia-Pacific index rose 0.5%. Memory chipmakers led the charge, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix emerging as the biggest contributors to the gauge’s gains. South Korea’s Kospi surged more than 2%, extending the region’s rally.
Japan’s markets are closed for an extended three-day stretch from September 21 to 23. Monday marked Respect for the Aged Day, a national holiday, followed by a bridging Citizen’s Holiday on Tuesday and Autumnal Equinox Day, another national holiday, on Wednesday.
Also Read: A new Fed tightening cycle may have just begun. If that’s the case, buckle up
In India, The GIFT Nifty which gives an indication of how the country’s stock market could open, hinted a muted start in green.
Futures on US benchmarks also ticked higher, building on Monday’s session, when the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 notched their strongest daily performance since early August.
The rally traces back to Meta Platforms, whose new artificial intelligence agent Muse AI has sparked fresh enthusiasm across the chip sector. An index tracking US semiconductor firms jumped more than 4% as investors bet on rising demand for AI-related hardware.
Meta’s shares soared 11%, marking their best single-day performance since April 2025, while Advanced Micro Devices crossed the $1 trillion market capitalisation mark, joining Nvidia, Micron, Broadcom and TSMC in that club.
Intel and AMD shares climbed 12% and 10% respectively on the back of the news, with Meta accounting for roughly 5.5% of AMD’s revenue as its second-largest customer.Also Read: South Korean chip stocks gain as Meta’s Muse AI agent spurs enthusiasm
The Nasdaq Composite closed at a record high, up 2.2% for the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 370 points, and the S&P 500 finished 1.5% higher, its best day in over a month. Falling bond yields and renewed buying interest in AI-linked chip stocks underpinned the broader advance.
Traders are also positioning ahead of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, expected to touch on artificial intelligence, trade and investment. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called his weekend talks with China’s top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, “very successful.”
Brent crude held steady near $100 a barrel after sliding 3.4% on Monday, as easing supply worries in West Asia and signs of progress toward ending the US-Iran conflict weighed on prices. Saudi Arabia’s oil loadings from the Arabian Gulf jumped over the weekend, with the highest ship count at its main export port since June according to a Bloomberg report.
Trump said he would “probably” be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the UN General Assembly in New York this week.
With Bloomberg Inputs