Micron Technology's quarterly results and revenue forecast, released after the US market close on Wednesday, triggered a sharp rally across Asian equity markets on Thursday. The largest US maker of memory chips reported that revenue had quadrupled year on year and projected current-quarter revenue of around $50 billion, far exceeding Wall Street estimates. Contracts for the Nasdaq 100 jumped almost 2 per cent in after-hours trading, and the momentum carried into Asia, where South Korea's Kospi index surged 5.4 per cent to a record 8,930.30 and Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 4.6 per cent to an all-time high of 72,366.34.

The results provided a fresh signal that the artificial intelligence-driven boom in data-centre spending continues, easing concerns that had weighed on chipmakers earlier in the week. Micron's outlook, coupled with Qualcomm's upward revision of its annual revenue forecast to $40 billion and the announcement of a new data-centre chip to be used by Meta, reinforced the view that demand for both conventional and high-bandwidth memory continues to outstrip supply. Hugh Lam, an investment strategist at Betashares in Sydney, said the earnings reminded investors that the durability of the memory cycle and the broader AI trade "is here to stay", while analysts in Australia noted that structural supply constraints across DRAM and NAND memory types are likely to put a floor under chip stocks through at least 2027.

The tech-driven surge was most pronounced in South Korea, where Samsung Electronics gained 5.3 per cent and SK Hynix leapt 13 per cent after separately announcing plans to raise about $29 billion through a US stock listing. In Tokyo, chip-equipment makers Advantest and Tokyo Electron soared 15 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively. Gains elsewhere in the region were more measured: the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.2 per cent and Taiwan's Taiex added 0.5 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.4 per cent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7 per cent. The rally unfolded against a backdrop of falling oil prices, with Brent crude extending losses to trade below $73 a barrel as the US and Iran made progress towards a definitive peace agreement, and a rising dollar, whose broad index hit a seven-month high, creating headwinds for Asian currencies.

The next factual milestone for global markets is the release on Thursday of the US personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge. Economists expect the data to show an acceleration in both monthly and annual price growth for May. The reading will be scrutinised for its implications for the Fed's interest-rate path, after a rally in Treasuries on Wednesday saw the 10-year yield fall 11 basis points and the two-year yield slip to around 4.15 per cent, reflecting a reassessment of policy expectations.