EV Tie-Ups, Chip Results Drive Asia Stock Gauges to New Highs

(Bloomberg) -- The latest news of global tech giants collaborating on electric vehicles, plus results from some of the world’s biggest semiconductor makers, helped drive Asian stock indexes to record levels on Friday.

The regional benchmark MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.6% to a new high, with chip giants Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. the biggest boosts after business updates. Samsung also helped drive South Korea’s Kospi up nearly 4% to a record, while TSMC powered Taiwan’s Taiex to an all-time high as well.

EV-related stocks were running hot, following Tesla Inc.’s surge to its highest level ever and surpassing the market value of Facebook Inc. Investors were also excited by major local news on the sector in Asia.

Hyundai Motor Co. jumped 20%, the most since 1988, following a media report that it was in talks with Apple Inc. on developing self-driving electric cars. The carmaker later backed away from an earlier statement initially confirming it’s in talks with Apple. Hong Kong-listed Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. jumped as much as 22% to the highest since 1993 after reports it is teaming with Baidu Inc. to make EVs for the Chinese market.

Jeon Kyungdae, chief investment officer for equities at Macquarie Investment Management Korea, noted that foreign investors were snapping up Asian tech stocks Friday after a bullish sales forecast from U.S. memory maker Micron Technology Inc. and record quarterly revenue at TSMC. Samsung rose even after missing earnings targets, and extended its climb after TSMC’s results.

The gains in tech-heavy Asia were broad and deep. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed to its highest since 1990, driven in part by chip equipment makers such as Tokyo Electron Ltd. India’s Sensex was trading at a record, boosted by Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Asia’s biggest exporter of software services, which will report earnings later.