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By Ankur Banerjee SINGAPORE, July 23 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Thursday after U.S. technology firms outlined significant capital spending plans that are likely to benefit chipmakers in the

South Korea’s economic growth slowed in the second quarter after robust first-quarter, but remained resilient as brisk chip exports offset weak private consumption and construction investment.

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled a passport-sized foldable phone and raised prices of two updated foldable models, as it grapples ‌with rising memory chip prices while bracing for a new threat from Apple ‌in the niche but growing segment. The South Korean technology company pioneered foldable smartphones but its dominance is set to ​be challenged by Apple which analysts expect this year to launch a foldable phone with a screen similar in size to an iPad mini. "Strategically, this is one of Samsung's most important foldable launches," said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at researcher IDC.

Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold8 is the lightest book-style foldable phone on the market, but that’s not the headline. Based on analyst reports, it’s a preview of Apple’s long-rumored folding iPhone, expected this fall. The device is squatter and wider than Samsung’s previous foldables.

Korean authorities are working to restore order following on-again-off-again appetite for artificial-intelligence trades, but analysts say it will be difficult to keep AI-driven volatility in check.

South Korea's Samsung is in talks to invest hundreds of millions of euros in the AI ‌start-up Mistral, as part of a fundraising round that ‌could value the group at roughly €20 billion ($22.81 billion), Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing ​sources. Samsung could invest about €1 billion in the new round, the report said, adding that Swedish investor EQT’s Scaleup Europe Fund is in talks to back the fundraising round. In April, Samsung said it would ‌considerinvestment and acquisitions where ⁠necessary to accelerate development and commercialisation in robotics, while combining partnering local companies for technology development.

One scoop to start: A consortium of investors led by Amit Bhatia and backed by the Mittal family is in talks to buy a significant minority stake...

Samsung is in talks to invest hundreds of millions of euros in the AI start-up Mistral, a move that would bolster the French company’s efforts...

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Samsung Electronics on Monday launched its first U.S. co-branded credit card with Barclays, deepening its push into the financial services space ‌in the country and signaling plans to broaden its offerings in the future. The Samsung Galaxy ‌Card, issued by Barclays and running on Visa's network, will allow users to apply, manage accounts, track spending and redeem ​rewards entirely through Samsung Wallet. The credit card launch also puts Samsung in direct competition with Apple Pay, which dominates payment services in the U.S. The launch comes as technology companies and banks race ‌to deepen ties between digital wallets ⁠and financial products, seeking to make smartphones the primary device for payments and money management, and both Samsung and Barclays want to capitalize on it.

ASML, the largest maker of equipment used to ‌manufacture computer chips, intends to offer ‌employees a bonus worth €20,000 ($22,838.00) if they remain with ​the company between 2027 and 2030. The company confirmed the plan, first reported in Eindhovens Dagblad, on Monday in an emailed statement. ASML ‌said terms ⁠of the conditional stock grant from January 1, 2027 are still ⁠being finalized, but it would be offered to "all eligible employees."

The unwind in artificial intelligence and momentum stocks is entering its maturing stage and should not trigger prolonged market weakness, according to JP Morgan. The bank's equity strategists, led by Mislav Matejka, noted a challenging few weeks for AI-linked groups, with Korea's market down...

The global artificial intelligence boom has propelled ASML to the top of Europe's stock market, as soaring demand for AI computer chips flows to the Dutch company that dominates the market for the equipment needed to ‌make them. After blowout second quarter earnings, investors and analysts are asking a once far-fetched question: could ASML become Europe's first ever trillion-dollar firm? Key ‌obstacles include doubts over how long Google, Amazon, and other hyperscalers will keep spending heavily on data centres, and whether ASML, its suppliers and customers such as TSMC and Samsung can execute expansion ​plans.

The move could set the stage for another round of the recent yo-yo trade, with weakness in Korean chip stocks spilling over to U.S. semiconductor names and vice versa.

The global artificial intelligence boom has propelled ASML to the top of Europe's stock market, as soaring demand for AI computer chips flows to the Dutch company that dominates the market for the equipment needed to ‌make them. After blowout second quarter earnings, investors and analysts are asking a once far-fetched question: could ASML become Europe's first ever trillion-dollar firm? Key ‌obstacles include doubts over how long Google, Amazon, and other hyperscalers will keep spending heavily on data centres, and whether ASML, its suppliers and customers such as TSMC and Samsung can execute expansion ​plans.

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By Anna Szymanski July 17 (Reuters) - From the Editor Hello Morning Bid readers! We can’t seem to get away from semiconductors and straits.

Extreme volatility in South Korea’s world-beating stock market is alarming policymakers, who fear trading is being driven more by leverage than...

Micron Technology on Thursday signed long-term agreements with automotive suppliers, including chip designer ‌Qualcomm and audio products maker Harman, to secure ‌memory and storage components that powers AI-enabled vehicles. The agreements come as ​the industry races to expand manufacturing capacity to meet the booming demand for memory chips due to the rapid adoption of AI tools. These chips are used in data ‌centers, consumer electronics ⁠and vehicles, where they support AI-enabled features such as ADAS and digital cockpits.

U.S. stock futures were lower, with Nasdaq hurt by weakness in such names as Sandisk, Western Digital and Micron.

U.S. trade regulators have launched ‌a probe into ‌Samsung Electronics' memory chips and ​products sold by Google, Nvidia, Broadcom and Super Micro Computer that use ‌them ⁠after a complaint by Netlist alleging infringement ⁠of its patents. California-based Netlist has accused Samsung ​and its ​U.S. ​units of ‌infringing its patents on dynamic random access memory, a type of chip that temporarily stores data ‌for processors ​and is a ​critical ​component in the ‌servers powering the ​AI ​boom, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) said ​on ‌Wednesday.

The Financial Services Commission said today that it would suspend new listings of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds and triple the minimum deposit requirement to 30 million won, or about $20,285. Leveraged ETFs tied to individual companies have surged in popularity around the world as investors have become eager to supersize their returns on chip stocks and other hot trades. A 2x leveraged ETF tracking SK Hynix, for example, would rise 10% on a day when the stock climbs 5%.

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China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) expects to raise at least $8.6 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) on Shanghai's STAR Market in ​what would be Asia's largest share sale so far this year. CXMT is China's leading manufacturer of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips, ...

The Financial Services Commission is seeking to stabilize a stock market that has seen wild swings as individual investors use debt to chase profits amid AI-related jitters.

Exchange-traded funds have been a fixture of financial markets since the 1990s as a popular low-cost way for investors to buy baskets of stocks and trade them like shares on a brokerage account. Leveraged ETFs, which promise to multiply ‌the daily returns of their targets, have been around for two decades and are now exploding in popularity, particularly around the AI theme and ‌some of the companies at the forefront of hardware sales. Single-stock leveraged ETFs, which launched in the U.S. in 2022, are booming in Asia as a way to juice bets on South Korean chipmakers ​Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and are driving so much money they are reshaping the market, lifting volatility and worrying regulators.

Memory chip stocks continued to yo-yo in Asia, with Korea Exchange briefly suspending trading as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics cratered.

Asia-Pacific equities mostly declined, as a pullback in U.S. chip stocks fueled concerns about the longevity of artificial-intelligence enthusiasm and weighed on chip-heavy South Korea.