New York, January 18, 2026, 18:59 EST — The market has closed.
- ASE Technology’s shares on the U.S. market closed Friday around $19.41, up roughly 1.1%, holding close to their recent peaks.
- Chip stocks jumped ahead of the long weekend as investors turned their focus toward the upcoming earnings season.
- Markets reopen Tuesday, with inflation figures and Intel’s earnings due later this week likely to steer semiconductor sentiment.
ASE Technology Holding Co Ltd’s U.S.-listed shares (ASX) closed Friday 1.1% higher at $19.41, bouncing between $19.37 and $19.59 during the session. Roughly 6.5 million shares traded hands. (Yahoo Finance)
That moves the Taiwan-based chip packaging and testing firm onto traders’ radar as the week shifts focus from bank earnings to tech. U.S. stocks closed nearly flat on Friday, with chipmakers showing strength. Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, noted the S&P 500 staying “within spitting distance of 7,000” has left most investors feeling comfortable two weeks into the year. (Reuters)
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (.SOX) ended Friday at 7,927.41, marking its second consecutive daily rise. This shows semiconductor demand remains firm, even as the broader market fluctuates. (Yahoo Finance)
U.S. stock markets remain closed Monday, January 19, honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and will resume trading Tuesday, January 20. This extended break lengthens the pause since Friday’s close, often intensifying market moves once trading kicks back in. (New York Stock Exchange)
ASE operates at the tail end of the chip supply chain, making its context crucial. The company focuses on outsourced semiconductor assembly and test, known as OSAT — handling the packaging and testing that transform chips into ready-to-use components for devices.
Its U.S. listing comes as an ADR, essentially a U.S.-traded wrapper for foreign shares. This setup lets global investors quickly bet on packaging capacity demand without having to buy shares directly in Taipei.
Not all peers moved together. Amkor Technology (AMKR), a chip packager, dropped 2.5% to $48 on Friday, highlighting how individual stock action can still dominate the sector’s overall trend on any given day.
The broader semiconductor sector stayed resilient through the weekend. On Friday, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) ended up roughly 1.6%, closing at $342.47.
Next week could bring more volatility. Options—contracts granting the right to buy or sell at a fixed price by a certain date—often curb index swings when positioning is tight. But Friday’s monthly expiration might ease that control, said Brent Kochuba of SpotGamma. “This options expiration will allow the S&P 500 to start moving around a bit more,” he noted. (Reuters)
The calendar heats up as markets reopen. On Thursday, January 22, the Fed’s favored inflation measure—the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index—is set for release, coinciding with Intel’s earnings report. Netflix kicks off earnings season Tuesday, followed by a wave of major-cap results. (Investopedia)
ASE investors face a clear short-term test: will the chip rally hold steady once liquidity comes back on Tuesday, or will it lose steam ahead of the first major tech earnings and Thursday’s inflation report?
