SEOUL -- South Korea's economy returned to growth in the first quarter of this year, driven by brisk exports of IT items such as semiconductors.

PALO ALTO, California -- Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk unveiled at a Tesla earnings call Thursday that a joint venture of Musk-led companies intends to use U.S. chipmaker Intel's advanced chipmaking technology for its ambitious Terafab facility, which aims to produce 1 million wafers per month.

SEOUL -- SK Hynix's operating profit soared fivefold to 37.6 trillion won ($25.4 billion) in the first quarter from a year ago, as an explosive windfall from the agentic artificial intelligence era helped the chipmaker overcome a deepening energy and supply chain crisis in the Middle East.

TOKYO -- Japanese stocks soared to new highs on Thursday's intraday trading, with the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average rising above the 60,000 mark for the first time as optimism surrounding the easing of Middle East tensions fueled investor capital to flow into riskier assets.

TOKYO/SHANGHAI -- China's exports of solar equipment hit a record high in March, as countries sought alternatives to shield themselves from soaring energy prices stemming from the Iran war.

SEOUL -- South Korea's economy returned to growth in the first quarter of this year, driven by brisk exports of IT items such as semiconductors.

SHANGHAI -- Chinese automaker Chery Automobile and technology company Meituan, known for its food delivery app, are focusing on nuclear fusion, a next-generation energy technology that the government has prioritized in its latest five-year plan.

TOKYO -- Inpex, Japan's largest energy resource development company, has seen exports from its interests in the United Arab Emirates halted after the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz triggered by U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.

SANTA CLARA, California -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Wednesday gave a glimpse of its next-generation A13 and A12 chipmaking technologies, which promise to make more powerful chips in smaller nodes.

TOKYO -- Prudential Life Insurance has found the misconduct scandal to be a wide-ranging structural problem, the Japan-based insurer's president said Wednesday, adding that a freeze on new sales was needed to implement major reforms.