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Asian stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as a renewed semiconductor selloff battered South Korean and Japanese equities, while high U.S. Treasury yields and Middle East tensions weakened investor appetite for technology and other growth stocks.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped about 2%, tracking losses on Wall Street after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 5.6%. Micron Technology sank 7%, while Nvidia declined 2.3%, adding to concerns over stretched AI and semiconductor valuations.
Bond markets also remained a key source of pressure. The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield recently climbed to 5.3371%, its highest since 2007, while the 10-year yield hovered near 4.69% during Asian trading. Higher yields typically weigh on technology stocks by reducing the present value of expected future earnings.
South Korea’s KOSPI led regional losses, tumbling 5.5% to around 6,495 after briefly falling more than 6%. The sharp decline triggered a temporary “sidecar” program-trading halt. Semiconductor heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics plunged 8.4% and 7.3%, respectively, as investors took profits following the index’s recent rebound.
Japan also suffered heavy selling, with the Nikkei 225 falling 2.4% and the TOPIX losing 2.7%. Kioxia dropped 8.9%, TDK declined 4.1%, and Sony slipped about 1%.
Chinese markets joined the downturn as the CSI 300 fell 2.4% and the Shanghai Composite dropped 2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was broadly flat. Baidu plunged 12.5% after quarterly revenue missed expectations, while Xiaomi gained 6.4% as investors focused on growth in its electric vehicle and AI businesses.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3%, India’s Nifty 50 opened 0.3% lower, and Indonesia’s benchmark index declined 0.6%.
Investors are now awaiting the Federal Reserve’s July meeting minutes for fresh signals on inflation and interest rates. Persistent Iran-related tensions and Brent crude trading above $90 a barrel are also keeping global markets cautious.
