"Asian Stocks" Asian stocks generally fell along with U.S. stocks, with South Korean stocks dropping 3%, the hardest hit, as AI and chip-related stocks weakened

The night before (13th), the three major U.S. stock indices plummeted sharply. The U.S. government ended its shutdown, but some important economic data for October may "never be published," which could limit the Federal Reserve's rate cut space in December; AI chip king Nvidia fell 3.6%. Major stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region generally followed the decline of U.S. stocks this morning (14th), with AI and chip-related stocks in the region weakening. South Korean stocks fell 3%, underperforming the region.

The A-share markets in mainland China showed a lackluster performance in the morning session, with the Shanghai Composite Index closing at 4,022 points, down 6 points or 0.2%; the Shenzhen Component Index fell 148 points or 1.1%, closing at 13,327 points. Hong Kong stocks retreated from a one-month high, with the Hang Seng Index down 340 points or nearly 1.3%, closing at 26,732, with a turnover of HKD 125.015 billion. The Taiwan stock market fell 453 points or 1.6%, closing at 27,449. TSMC fell 1.7%, Hon Hai fell 4.2%, and Quanta, MediaTek, and Largan Precision fell between 0.8% and 1.2%.

The Nikkei Index fell 915 points or nearly 1.8% in the afternoon, closing at 50,366. Wire stocks plummeted, with Sumitomo Electric falling 1.6%, Fujikura and Furukawa Electric falling 5.8% and 9%, respectively. SoftBank continued to fall 5.7%, as the company announced earlier that it had liquidated its Nvidia holdings in October, cashing out over USD 5.8 billion. Rakuten Group fell 8.3%, with the group’s net loss for the first half of the fiscal year expanding to JPY 124.435 billion, compared to a loss of JPY 75.962 billion in the same period last year. Chip equipment stocks Tokyo Electron and Advantest each fell over 5%. Kioxia plummeted 23%, hitting the limit down, with net profit attributable to shareholders falling 66.5% year-on-year to JPY 58.946 billion.

South Korea's Kospi reversed its four-day rising trend, sharply retreating 3.1% to close at 4,043 points. The U.S. and South Korea reached a trade and national security agreement, reaching consensus on USD 350 billion investment terms. The South Korean won surged 1.2% during the Asian session, trading at 1,452.78 against the U.S. dollar. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics fell between 4.2% and 6.6%, while HMM, POSCO, and Hyundai Motor fell between 1.9% and 2.4%. Hanwha Aerospace rose 0.5% against the trend.

India's Nifty50 index fell 91 points or nearly 0.4% in the early session, closing at 25,788. The Bombay Stock Exchange index fell 339 points or 0.4%, closing at 84,138. Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services fell between 0.7% and 2.4%, while Adani Enterprises rose 1.4% against the trend.

The Australian 200 index fell 123 points or 1.4% at the end of the session, closing at 8,630. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) plummeted 4.6%, while the National Australia Bank and Westpac each fell 1.7%, and Macquarie Group fell 2.6%. BHP and Rio Tinto fell between 1.2% and 1.6%. The New Zealand 50 index continued to fall 133 points or nearly 1% at the end of the session, closing at 13,464 The Singapore Strait Index fell by 35 points or 0.8%, closing at 4,540. United Overseas Bank and DBS Group each dropped by 0.6%, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation fell by 1.2%; Sunway Construction declined by 2%, and Jardine Matheson and Land & General fell by 0.8% to 1%. Meanwhile, Indonesia's IDX and the Philippines' PSEI each rose slightly by 0.2%, Malaysia's KLCI dipped by 0.3%, and Thailand's SET 50 fell by 1%. The Hanoi Stock Index (HNXI) remained stable, while the Ho Chi Minh Stock Index (VNI) fell by less than 0.1%