Investing.com -- Asian stocks fell on Thursday as mixed earnings from major U.S. technology companies failed to reassure investors about the returns on massive artificial intelligence investments, renewing pressure on semiconductor shares and Chinese equities.
Wall Street closed higher overnight. In Asian trade, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.2%, while S&P 500 futures dropped 0.6%, after Tesla shares declined 3.3% in after-hours trade following a cut to its capital-spending forecast.
Meta Platforms rose 2.2% after raising its AI spending outlook, while semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research fell 7.4% after issuing a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast.
Brent crude climbed 1.5% to above $110 a barrel after deadly attacks in Saudi Arabia heightened supply concerns, while risks to shipping around the Strait of Hormuz persisted despite a recent acceleration in exports through the waterway.
Korean chipmakers lead Asia selloff as Chinese stocks near bear market
The MSCI Asia Pacific index fell around 1%, with South Korea's KOSPI declining 2.1% and Japan's Nikkei 225 losing 1.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.7%, while China's CSI 300 slid 1.6% and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.2%.
South Korean chipmakers bore the brunt of the technology selloff, with SK Hynix plunging 4% and Samsung Electronics falling 3.6%. Japan's Kioxia dropped 3.3% and Murata Manufacturing declined 2.1%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing slipped 0.6%, while Foxconn fell 1%.
The renewed weakness comes as investors question whether heavy spending on data centres and computing capacity can deliver sufficient returns, with financing costs and stretched valuations adding to concerns about a potential AI bubble.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 5.5% last week, its steepest weekly decline since April 2025. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also suffered an eight-session losing streak, its longest since October 2008.
Separately, South Korea's central bank left borrowing costs unchanged after two successive rate increases, as policymakers weigh inflationary pressures stemming from the semiconductor-driven economic upswing.
China shares approach bear market as Alibaba leads e-commerce losses
Mainland Chinese equities continued to weaken amid fading hopes for substantial stimulus, lacklustre corporate earnings and lingering anxiety over the global AI trade.
The CSI 300 fell as much as 1.6%, taking its losses from a June peak to around 20% and putting the index on the brink of a technical bear market.
Alibaba led losses among Chinese e-commerce companies after the government called for stronger quality control, with its shares falling 5.5%. JD.com lost 4.2%, Meituan declined 3.9% and Tencent dropped 3%. MiniMax lost 6.8% and Z.AI dropped 8.9%. ChangXin Memory Technologies declined 4.1%.
The market weakness contrasts with the continued willingness of some investors to back individual AI infrastructure companies. South Korean neocloud provider Elice Group rose for a second consecutive session, climbing as much as 25% to 99,900 won in Seoul and moving above its 90,500-won IPO price for the first time since listing.
Elice shares had closed 30% higher on Wednesday, reaching the daily price limit, after plunging around 32% during Tuesday's debut.
Elsewhere in the region, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3%, while New Zealand's NZX 50 dropped 0.4% and Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 0.2%. India's Nifty 50 futures slipped 0.3%.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite rose 1.1%, recovering some ground after plunging more than 11% last Friday in its steepest one-day decline since January 1998, before extending losses earlier this week. The selloff followed MSCI's proposal to reclassify Indonesia from emerging-market to standalone-market status.
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