Chinese stock markets spearheaded a synchronized Asian rally on Monday morning, with the Shanghai Composite Index breaking above 4,200 points to hit its highest level in over a decade, while South Korean equities also surged to record highs, as both markets are buoyed by the global AI supercycle that has become a core growth driver for regional technology and semiconductor sectors.

Across Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing stock exchanges, nearly 2,900 stocks advanced as of 9:36 AM. The rally in China’s market was led by tech-related sectors closely tied to the AI industry, particularly memory chips, optical fibers, and computing hardware.

Memory chip stocks saw a sharp surge at the opening, with Jiangbo Long and Tongyou Technology jumping over 10 percent.

This strong performance moves in lockstep with the booming semiconductor sector in South Korea, where industry giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics notched fresh all-time highs in early trading.

South Korea’s stock market led the regional surge on Monday morning. By the time of press, the KOSPI 200 Index soared more than 4.5 percent as of 9:31 AM, with an intraday gain of over 6 percent that triggered a circuit breaker.

Semiconductor stocks drove the rally. SK Hynix’s share price surged more than 10 percent in early trading, and the gain later expanded to 12 percent with a total market value of $900 billion. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics rose over 7 percent.