Asian semiconductor stocks surged on Friday following the announcement of a new trade agreement between the United States and Taiwan, driving the indices of Taiwan and South Korea to unprecedented highs.

As part of the deal, Taiwanese chip manufacturers have pledged to invest a minimum of $250 billion in U.S. manufacturing capabilities, in return for reduced reciprocal tariffs.

The Taiwan Weighted Index surged by 1.94%, closing at an all-time high of 31,408.7, making it the top-performing Asian market on the day.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi index rose by 0.9%, reaching a record 4,840.74, and extending its winning streak to an impressive 11 days. The smaller Kosdaq also saw a rise, increasing by 0.36% to reach 954.59.

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. rose 2.96% after the company delivered another record quarter, saying it expects to boost capital spending in 2026 to between $52 billion and $56 billion.

Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.32% to close at 53,936.17, extending losses from Thursday, while the broad-based Topix was down 0.28% to 3,658.68. Softbank Group, which has invested in various chip-related stocks, including chip designer Arm, reversed earlier gains to fall 1.01%.

Chip heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix gained 3.47% and 0.93%, respectively.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.48% to 8,903.9, notching five straight winning sessions.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.48% in its last hour of trade, while the mainland’s CSI 300 lost 0.41% to finish at 4,731.87. State-linked semiconductor foundry firm SMIC was up 2.39%.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.60%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.26% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.25%.

U.S. bank stocks also advanced after the latest raft of quarterly earnings. Goldman Sachs advanced more than 4% after its fourth-quarter profit topped Wall Street estimates. 

Morgan Stanley jumped nearly 6% after its wealth management unit contributed to top- and bottom-line beats in the fourth quarter. Both stocks touched fresh 52-week highs.

The rally also came on the back of solid economic data. Jobless claims data for the week ending Jan. 10 came in at 198,000, lower than the 215,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.

—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Sarah Min contributed to this report.