The AI boom has swept through the stock markets of Japan and South Korea in the first half of the year, with the Korean market doubling in value. The second half of the year may prioritize AI infrastructure.

BlockBeats News, June 30th. The first half of the year officially closed for the Japanese and South Korean stock markets. Looking back on the first half of the year, AI investment has undoubtedly become a hot topic. The half-year gains of memory chip stocks represented by Samsung and SK Hynix were 180% and 310% respectively. Both hold significant weight in the South Korean stock market, leading to a cumulative first-half gain of approximately 100% for the Korean stock market, hitting multiple interim highs.

On the other hand, driven by factors such as corporate reform, AI, and the semiconductor industry chain's prosperity, the Nikkei 225 Index has risen by about 40% year-to-date, while the Topix Index has risen by about 17%. Tech stocks have been the primary driving force, with chip testing equipment manufacturer Advantest seeing a year-to-date increase of about 65% and chip manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron surging over 120%.

It is worth noting that in recent days, in the Asia-Pacific and U.S. stock markets, benefiting from the "South Korea's $800 billion expansion plan" for AI, upstream infrastructure equipment and raw materials for AI have emerged, setting the stage for the second half of the year, where "AI infrastructure" may become the new focus under the same AI theme.