Stock Index

Asia-Pacific equities sank, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index down as much as 3.6% intraday to its lowest level since May. South Korea’s Kospi Index plunged 11% as chip shares sold off amid worries about circular funding and intensifying competition from China. Benchmarks in Japan and Taiwan each fell more than 4%. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 1%, underscoring the pressure on global tech sentiment.

South Korea’s Kospi sank 10.5% in a single session, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both dropping more than 12%. In China, memory chipmaker CXMT surged 466% on its STAR Market debut, raising about $8.6 billion. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 4% and Taiwan’s Taiex lost 3.9%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6%. Oil prices also weakened, with Brent crude down 0.8% to $85.16 a barrel.

Chinese equities fell sharply, with the CSI300 down 2.3% at the midday break to its lowest level since July 21 and the Shanghai Composite off 1% at 3,820.52. Technology and semiconductor shares led the selloff, with the STAR 50 Index down 4%, the CSI AI Index sliding 5.1% and the semiconductor index falling 3.7%. The pullback came as investors reassessed elevated AI-related valuations and broader spending pressures.

Indian equities rebounded sharply on July 27, ending a five-session losing streak. The Sensex climbed 776 points (1.02%) to 76,835.78, while the Nifty 50 added 229 points (0.96%) to 23,995.95. The session also put stocks such as L&T, HUL and HDFC Bank in focus, alongside FY27 first-quarter results from BEL and Coal India, without attributing the index move to those names.

South Korea’s KOSPI fell 6.41% to 6,322.80 in early trading on Tuesday, prompting the exchange to trigger a 20-minute sellside sidecar. Losses followed a 2.2% drop in the PHLX chip index overnight, which weighed on Seoul tech shares, with Samsung Electronics down 7.68% and SK hynix off 9.36%. Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution also declined. While easing Middle East tensions were cited, they did little to calm concerns over the durability of heavy AI capital spending.

Asian equities sold off sharply, led by a 7.1% plunge in South Korea’s Kospi and a fall of more than 3.5% in Japan’s Nikkei 225. SK Hynix dropped almost 10% and Samsung Electronics fell more than 8%, extending a third straight day of weakness in chip shares. Investors are weighing concerns that AI capital spending may be excessive and could pressure returns, alongside uncertainty over a potential Federal Reserve rate hike and US-Iran negotiations. Several megacap technology firms are due to report earnings this week, with the durability of AI spending in focus.

Investors have grown uneasy after Alphabet ramped up AI spending, with the stock falling 9% over the past five trading sessions and slipping below its 200-day moving average. Evercore ISI and Barclays warned that enthusiasm for AI capital spending is starting to cool and that heavy concentration in the S&P 500 is adding risk. Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are expected to post sharp increases in AI-related capital spending for the second quarter, keeping scrutiny on big-tech earnings durability and broader index stability.

The Philippine Stock Exchange said Maynilad Water Services (MYNLD) will replace Converge (CNVRG) in the PSEi effective Aug. 3, 2026. Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) will be added to the PSE Dividend Yield Index. Converge and Philex Mining (PX) will join the PSE MidCap Index. The reshuffle is based on trading activity from July 2025 to June 2026 and is part of a regular index rebalancing.

Taiwan’s consumer confidence index fell to 64.58 in July, down 0.47 points from a month earlier, with all six components weakening. The stock market subindex recorded the biggest drop, sliding 1.82 points to 28.08. The decline followed a record one-session selloff on July 17, when the Taiex sank 2,953.71 points, or 6.47%, amid concerns over an AI bubble, rising U.S. inflation and escalating Middle East tensions.

Infosys reported fiscal 2025 first-quarter revenue of Rs 48,211 crore, up 14% year on year, and net profit of Rs 7,769 crore, up 12%, but both came in below market expectations. The company also lowered the upper end of its FY27 revenue growth guidance to 3% from 3.5%. Shares fell 1.99%, making it the biggest drag on the Nifty 50 and pushing the index down 0.73% to 23,696.45 amid sharply weaker market breadth.