Equities started the month on a broadly positive note, following all-time highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in New York on Friday.Seoul and Taipei jumped more than 4 per cent to hit fresh records.South Korean chip giant SK hynix was the standout, piling on more than 10 per cent, while rival Samsung was up around 4 per cent. Taiwanese counterpart TSMC was almost 7 per cent up.Hong Kong also saw strong gains thanks to a surge in Chinese tech firms, including Alibaba, while Singapore, Manila and Jakarta were also up.Tokyo and Shanghai were closed for holidays.However, Chris Weston at…