Concerns about the expanding scale of AI investment spread, and most Asian stock markets fell. The report provides a breaking account of market movements in Japan, South Korea and China and developments surrounding U.S. corporate earnings.
Ahead of earnings announcements scheduled for this week, caution over AI-related investment weighed on investor sentiment, and Asian stocks generally fell. Japanese markets showed marked declines in the morning, affected by AI and semiconductor-related stocks, as risk aversion prevailed in response to developments in the U.K. and U.S.
Market attention to the outlook for monetary policy and interest rates increased after Bank of Japan Governor Ueda pointed to a core inflation rate near 2%.
South Korea's KOSPI fell as much as 3.17% shortly after the open, then pared its losses to finish with a decline in the 1% range. Technology stocks led the decline. In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.60%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.52%.
With semiconductor-related stocks in the United States performing poorly and earnings announcements from major companies ahead, the profitability of AI-related investment is a market focus. Vietnam's market posted a slight overall gain.