Asian stocks advanced on Thursday, lifted by a strong rally in US chipmakers and a solid start to Wall Street's earnings season. The upbeat sentiment offset renewed US–China trade frictions, which pushed gold to a record $4,234.41 per ounce and strengthened the yen. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.8 per cent, while Taiwan's index climbed 1.4 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI gained 1.8 per cent, and Australia's benchmark advanced 1.1 per cent — all reaching new highs. The surge came ahead of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s earnings release, following better-than-expected results from Dutch chip equipment maker ASML, fuelled by booming artificial intelligence investment. US stock futures were flat after the S&P 500 gained 0.4 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 0.6 per cent overnight, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping 3 per cent. Meanwhile, the dollar fell for a third consecutive session, easing 0.2 per cent against major peers and slipping to 150.51 yen. The euro edged up 0.2 per cent to $1.1667 amid cautious optimism that upcoming talks between Trump and China's Xi Jinping could ease trade tensions. Attribution: Reuters
