Investing.com-- Asian technology and chipmaking stocks rose on Friday, tracking overnight gains in their U.S. peers following strong earnings from internet giant Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and positive comments on artificial intelligence.
Chinese search engine giant Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) was among the better performers for the day, rising as much as 4% in Hong Kong trade after it launched updated versions of its flagship Ernie AI models.
Chip stocks including SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660), Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857), and Hon Hai Precision Industry (TW:2317) rose between 1.8% and 3% after major customer Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) said it did not see a slowdown in demand for AI data centers. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) also made similar comments.
Japan’s Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035) and Renesas Electronics Corp (TYO:6723) also rose between 3% and 7%.
Broader tech stocks advanced tracking positive earnings from Alphabet, which signaled increased demand for its AI offerings. Chinese internet giants Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700) and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) surged nearly 3% each in Hong Kong trade.
Investors remained hopeful that AI will continue to drive outsized investment and growth in the tech sector, as it has over the past two years. Comments from Amazon and Nvidia also helped quell some concerns over slowing investment in AI infrastructure, after recent reports showed Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) cancelling several data center-related agreements.
Friday’s gains offered some relief to tech stocks, which were the worst hit by a prolonged market downturn seen so far in 2025. Fears of global trade and economic disruptions, coupled with a healthy dose of profit-taking, were major weights on the sector in recent months.
Focus in the sector is now on more key U.S. tech earnings, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon, and Microsoft set to report next week.
Locally, Chinese electric car maker BYD (SZ:002594) will report earnings later on Friday.