The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey raised its year-end inflation forecast to 28% from 26%, Governor Fatih Karahan said at a press briefing in Istanbul on Thursday. A central bank survey last month showed market participants expect year-end inflation of 29%. Karahan cited geopolitical uncertainty from the war in Iran and volatility in energy and food prices as reasons for the upward revision.

South Korean stocks jumped on Thursday, lifting emerging market equities as a global AI trade rebound pushed the Seoul KOSPI into a technical bull market. Jefferies strategist Mohit Kumar said he remains comfortable with an overweight in AI, citing a strong earnings season and no sign of a capex slowdown. The KOSPI rose 3.2% on Thursday, roughly 22% above its July 30 low. Large-cap memory makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led gains, each up about 5%. Kumar warned geopolitics remains the main risk: the Strait of Hormuz remains closed — if the stalemate lasts weeks markets should digest it, but if it endures months markets would need to reprice.

Foreign investment in Japan's semiconductor sector totals 6 tln yen (about $37bn); recent image‑sensor fab announcements from Sony and TSMC will add to overall sector investment. TSMC has committed 3 tln yen to two Japanese wafer fabs — the first began volume production of logic chips in 2024, the second is under construction. Micron last month started an expansion in Hiroshima, planning 1.5 tln yen to produce advanced memory chips for AI data centers. In July Tower Semiconductor said it will invest 600 bln yen to mass‑produce optical‑communication chips for data centers.