Reuters - Asian stocks rose sharply on Friday, led by chip and ​AI firms as investors brushed off concern over the stalled recovery of energy supplies through the critical Strait of Hormuz, with tit-for-tat attacks escalating ‌between the U.S. and Iran.

The renewed back-and-forth attacks have further eroded the fragile three-week-old ceasefire, bringing the spotlight back on oil prices and what they could mean for inflation and the global rates outlook.

Japan's bond market and currency lurched higher after Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday the government wants to explore ways to encourage pension funds, including the Government Pension Investment Fund, to increase their holdings of domestic financial assets.

Brent ​crude futures were set for a 5% week-on-week rise, the strongest weekly performance since early May. But at $76.03 per barrel, Brent has given up most ​of the gains it picked up when the conflict began at the end of February.

"I'm looking at updates from the Middle East ⁠and things don't look good, but investors seem incredibly resilient to those risks at the moment, with tech again driving markets higher," said Nick Twidale, chief market strategist ​at ATFX Global in Sydney.

Japan's Nikkei, opens new tab rose 1.8% while South Korea's KOSPI, opens new tab, the epicentre of the AI rally, gained 4%. Chip bellwethers SK Hynix, opens new tab and Samsung Electronics, opens new tab were up ​1% and 3%, respectively, while Taiwan markets were closed due to a typhoon.

That left the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, opens new tab 1.3% higher.

"We will start on the front foot again in Asia, but I'm still very cautious that we are not pricing in enough event risk that the Strait of Hormuz may be closed again in the coming days," Twidale said.

Investors have taken the escalation in ​stride this week, keeping their focus instead on the AI theme that has propelled global stocks to record highs but spurred worries about the sustainability of the red-hot rally.

Overnight, the ​tech-heavy Nasdaq, opens new tab ended sharply higher after Micron Technology's , opens new tab plans to invest more than $250 billion in the U.S. through 2035 buoyed chip stocks, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index, opens new tab rising 3%.

SK HYNIX U.S. DEBUT AWAITS

Attention ‌will be ⁠on SK Hynix's U.S. market debut later on Friday after the firm priced its American Depositary Receipts at $149 on Thursday, raising about $26.5 billion, indicating strong investor appetite to gain exposure to the AI supply chain.

The blockbuster offering, which will finance new factories and equipment to meet surging AI chip demand, is set to be the world's second-biggest share sale after SpaceX's, opens new tab record-breaking IPO last month.

Sam Konrad, investment manager for Asia Equity Income at Jupiter Asset Management, said the listing could mean that the SK Hynix ADR trades at a ​premium to the local shares, but it ​could still help re-rate the South ⁠Korean-listed shares.

"If SK Hynix re-rates, that should help support a re-rating in Samsung Electronics too, especially when they release details of their shareholder return plans," said Konrad, who holds shares in both South Korean firms.

SK Hynix's South Korean shares have surged an eye-popping 238% ​this year, taking the broader benchmark to record highs and making the KOSPI the world's best-performing major stock market since ​the start of 2025.

But ⁠the AI mania has also spurred sharp swings in recent weeks as investors fret about sky-high valuations and worry about the sustainability of their massive profit growth.

In currency markets, all eyes remained on the Japanese yen , which hung around its lowest level in 40 years as traders kept a watch for official intervention from Tokyo.

The yen got a lift from Katayama's comments ⁠and was ​last 0.5% firmer at 161.51 per U.S. dollar.

The dollar otherwise was mostly muted as investors awaited catalysts ​to gauge the path of U.S. interest rates. Traders are pricing in 34 basis points of hikes for the year but that may change depending on the inflation pressure from the war.

In commodities, gold looked set ​to post a 1% decline for the week and was last at $4,113 per ounce in early trading.