South Korea shares fall as Asian stocks decline, tracking US chip losses

Published Tue, Oct 13, 2026 · 09:13 AM

ASIAN stocks dropped, tracking losses on Wall Street as weakness in US chipmakers dented sentiment ahead of the start of earnings season.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.3 per cent with equities in South Korea slipping over 3 per cent. That came after a US gauge of chipmakers fell 2.7 per cent on Monday (Oct 12), while the Nasdaq 100 Index lost 0.7 per cent.

Among the main moves in markets, S&P 500 futures were little changed as at 9.02 am Tokyo time. Hang Seng futures were little changed, Japan’s Topix rose 0.1 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3 per cent.

SK Hynix’s shares fell almost 4 per cent in early Asian trading after Chinese rival CXMT said it made progress on a memory chip design capable of storing more data.

Sandisk slid 6 per cent and Micron Technology declined 3.9 per cent. Meta Platforms rose more than 3 per cent, bucking a decline in the Nasdaq, after it unveiled its Muse Wonder AI model.

Elsewhere, Brent crude oil fell 0.6 per cent to around US$106 a barrel. A Bloomberg gauge of the US dollar’s strength broadly held its gains from the previous session, when it climbed to its highest since mid-May 2025.

Enthusiasm for artificial intelligence eased as investors weighed the outlook for capital spending against rising borrowing costs. With the S&P 500 Index nearly 120 per cent above its 2022 low, the durability of the four-year bull market increasingly hinges on earnings keeping pace with elevated valuations.

“The selling pressure across AI-related equities remains a defining feature of the market,” wrote Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone. “Semiconductor stocks have broken below recent trading ranges.”

Warnings are mounting around the AI trade, with Broadcom chief executive officer Hock Tan the latest to flag concerns.

The AI boom has attracted investors whose strategies resemble those of gamblers, he said on Monday, suggesting some of them have little understanding of what they are betting on.

Last week, billionaire Ray Dalio warned that AI is a “classic bubble” that is nearing a bursting point thanks to rising interest rates and the need to turn wealth into cash.

In Asia, focus will be on the Indian rupee after the nation’s most aggressive currency defence in more than a decade is telling market watchers that the central bank is prepared to pull out all the stops to keep the rupee from weakening beyond 97 per US dollar.

Meanwhile, the earnings season in the US gets underway on Tuesday, with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo & Co due to report. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley follow on Wednesday. 

S&P 500 companies are estimated to post a 25 per cent increase in third-quarter profits from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

Investors will also be monitoring this week’s US consumer price index reading.

Federal Reserve Cleveland president Beth Hammack said smaller, more frequent policy adjustments can help keep inflation expectations anchored, though she stopped short of backing another rate increase in October.

“This week’s CPI report is likely to be the most important release of data the Fed will see before its October meeting,” Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede, wrote.

“Barring a stronger than expected inflation reading, the Fed is likely to take a patient approach to its next rate hike.” BLOOMBERG