Asian Stocks Slip as Fed Holds Rates, Samsung Earnings Fail to Lift AI Sentiment

Most Asian stock markets declined on Thursday as investor concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) spending continued to pressure technology shares, overshadowing strong earnings from Samsung Electronics and upbeat results from major U.S. tech companies. Market sentiment also remained cautious after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and offered few clues on the timing of its next policy move.

Regional equities struggled to find direction after Wall Street closed lower overnight, weighed down by renewed geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran, along with a sharp rebound in oil prices. U.S. stock index futures edged higher in early Asian trading after Microsoft delivered stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, helping recover part of the previous session’s losses.

South Korea’s KOSPI index was among the most volatile markets, ending about 0.5% lower after swinging sharply between gains and losses. The benchmark initially surged nearly 5%, fueling hopes that the recent AI-driven selloff had reached a bottom, before reversing as semiconductor stocks came under renewed selling pressure. The index has fallen nearly 17% over the past two sessions.

Samsung Electronics rose roughly 2% after reporting a significant increase in second-quarter earnings. The company’s semiconductor operating profit soared more than 250-fold from a year earlier, supported by strong demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI servers. However, SK Hynix dropped about 4% after investors viewed its record quarterly profits as insufficient to justify lofty expectations, extending recent losses in chipmakers.

Investors also assessed earnings from Microsoft and Meta Platforms. Microsoft benefited from stronger-than-expected Azure cloud growth, while Meta posted solid revenue but cautioned that AI investments would keep capital expenditures elevated, reinforcing concerns over rising industry spending.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 outperformed regional peers, climbing about 1%, although the broader TOPIX index slipped 0.4%. Elsewhere, China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.2%, the CSI 300 fell 2.2%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.7%, Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 0.9%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng traded little changed.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at 3.50%–3.75%. A split vote among policymakers and cautious remarks from Chair Kevin Warsh left markets uncertain about future policy direction, while renewed U.S. strikes on Iran kept geopolitical risks firmly in focus.