Asian shares decline as tech stocks under pressure, Samsung slides
Asian shares declined as technology stocks were under renewed selling pressure as Samsung Electronics Co declined post its earnings report.
South Korea’s Kospi index was down 4% while Japan’s Nikkei index was down 0.6%.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.6% with decliners slightly outnumbering gainers. Technology stocks led losses, with Samsung falling more than 6% even after quarterly profit surged 19-fold. That weighed on the Kospi index, which retreated 4.3%. The chip sector remained in focus with SK Hynix Inc. shares dropping 4.2% after kicking off the formal marketing process for its US listing.
US equity-index futures also edged lower in early Asian trading. Contracts for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index declined 0.4%, indicating Monday’s rebound on Wall Street may be brief.
Elsewhere, Brent crude rose 0.4% to about $72.25 a barrel after reports that a tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz underscored the risks to shipping through the vital waterway.
Recent swings in tech stocks have left investors searching for fresh evidence that the AI boom can sustain its momentum. Even after US semiconductor shares posted a record quarter, attention has turned to whether soaring capital spending, rising competition and expanding capacity will deliver the earnings growth needed to justify lofty expectations.
In other corners of the market, the yen was a touch weaker around 162.15 per dollar as positioning data showed hedge funds turned the most negative on the Japanese currency since 2007.
Treasuries were little changed after gaining Monday following less hawkish wagers for the Federal Reserve. Japan bond futures rose ahead of a 30-year auction, which will be a test of investor appetite.
In Asia, early attention was on Samsung’s earnings. The company’s quarterly profit soared past elevated expectations due to rocketing demand for memory chips needed in AI data centers.
The world’s largest memory maker reported preliminary operating income of 89.4 trillion won ($58 billion) in the three months through June, dwarfing its performance for all of 2025. Analysts on average had projected 84.2 trillion won.
With inputs from Bloomberg