Mostly Higher In Asia; Samsung Revenue Beat Lifts Sentiment

Most major Asia-Pac equity indices are higher at typing, tracking a positive lead from Wall St. Asian chipmakers and tech names outperformed, riding on tailwinds from Samsung’s better-than-expected revenue.

• The Taiwanese Taiex outperformed, sitting 2.3% better off on gains in index heavyweight and chipmaker TSMC (+4.7%, comprises >25% of index), while smaller rival United Microelectronics Corp. (+6.9%) caught a bid as well.
• The KOSPI sits 2.0% firmer at typing after extending opening gains, on track for its second daily higher close in seven sessions. Large-caps, tech, and automobile-related names lead the way higher, making up for lacklustre performance from financials and telecom stocks.
• The Hang Seng deals 0.4% softer at typing, off worst levels after opening in the red. Broader sentiment was sapped by COVID-related worry in China, with limited debate re: the release of Chinese quarterly GDP data next week doing the rounds (a BBG report has pointed to a decline on the back of high-frequency data). The Hang Seng Tech Index sits 1.0% worse off, bucking the region wide bid in tech names.
• The ASX200 deals 0.4% firmer at typing, with a rebound in major miners (after Wednesday’s steep losses) countering shallow losses across energy and utility equities amidst the recent downtick in major crude benchmarks.
• U.S. e-mini equity index futures sit 0.1% to 0.2% firmer at typing, having struggled to make meaningful headway above neutral levels throughout the session after reversing an earlier decline.