Asian equities rose on May 4, 2026, led by South Korea’s KOSPI hitting a record 6,828.33 points, up 3.5% in trading.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.7% as Baidu, SMIC and Xiaomi each jumped over 4%, buoyed by AI optimism.
Samsung added 2.8% and SK Hynix surged 6.8% after strong Q1 earnings, with memory‑chip shortages expected to lift prices.
Australia’s ASX 200 slipped 0.2% amid expectations of a 25‑bp RBA rate hike, driven by sticky inflation and Iran‑linked energy price spikes.