Asian Shares Tumble as Kospi Sinks 5.7%, Oil Prices Jump
South Korea's tech-heavy index led a broad regional selloff as AI stocks resumed their decline and oil prices climbed on Iran tanker uncertainty.
Shares fell sharply across Asia on Wednesday after Wall Street pulled further from its record high, dragged down by a renewed slide in artificial-intelligence stocks.
South Korea's Kospi led the retreat, dropping 5.7% to 6,487.34. Samsung Electronics shed 7.5% and memory chipmaker SK Hynix tumbled 8.8%, tracking losses among their U.S. counterparts.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 sank 3.2% to 65,332.04 as worries over rising bond yields combined with tech-share selling. The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds has traded near a three-decade high above 2.9% on expectations the Bank of Japan will soon raise rates to counter inflation.
The Shanghai Composite shed 2.2% to 3,903.61. Shares in humanoid robot maker Unitree soared nearly 630% initially in their trading debut on Shanghai's STAR market, with the company raising about $900 million in its initial public offering. But shares in rival humanoid robot maker UBTech, traded in Hong Kong, fell 10.6%.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped less than 0.1% to 25,460.46. Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.7%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 9,053.00.
Adding to the pressure, oil prices rose amid uncertainty over whether the United States and Iran can reach a deal allowing oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf. Brent crude gained 0.6% to $91.57 per barrel, up from $72.87 just before the war began. U.S. benchmark crude rose 0.7% to $84.66 per barrel.
On Tuesday, Wall Street extended its retreat from record highs. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% for a third straight loss, the Dow slipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.3%. Micron Technology dropped 7%, while Nvidia fell 2.3% and Broadcom sank 3.2%.
Rising bond yields, driven by inflation fears tied to high oil prices, have added to investor caution. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged down to 4.70% but remains well above its pre-war level of 3.97%. High yields have also pushed mortgage rates near a one-year high, with new homebuilding falling short of expectations in the latest report.
In currency trading, the dollar fell to 159.26 Japanese yen from 159.61, while the euro rose to $1.1582 from $1.1577.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
