Asian shares slide as AI-stock selloff intensifies before US earnings

what happened

Asian equities moved lower on Tuesday, October 13, as renewed selling in artificial-intelligence shares unsettled markets ahead of the US earnings season. According to cnbctv18.com, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.9% and was heading toward its weakest close since mid-August. South Korean and Japanese stocks led the decline.

South Korea suffered the sharpest retreat. The Kospi, viewed by traders as a gauge for the AI trade, plunged 5.24% and approached its lowest closing level since July. Chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics both fell by more than 5%. Japan’s Nikkei 225, resuming trading after a long weekend, dropped 2.34%, while the broader Topix declined 0.45%. Taiwan’s TAIEX slipped 1.22%, and Hang Seng futures were little changed.

Currency trading also drew attention. The yen gained 0.1% to 158.42 per dollar, while the offshore yuan was almost flat at 6.6952. In India, GIFT Nifty pointed to a subdued opening with a positive bias. Traders were also monitoring the rupee after the Reserve Bank of India launched its most forceful currency defence in more than a decade. The action indicated that the RBI was prepared to use every available instrument to prevent the rupee from weakening past 97 per dollar.

Wall Street’s weakness shaped early Asian trading, with US equity futures edging down and Nasdaq 100 contracts losing 0.5% after the index declined on Monday. A US semiconductor gauge fell 2.7% in that session. Investors appeared to be reassessing prospective corporate AI spending as borrowing costs rise. The S&P 500 was nearly 120% above its 2022 low, leaving the four-year bull market reliant on profits keeping up with elevated valuations.

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack said smaller, more frequent adjustments could help anchor inflation expectations, Bloomberg reported. She did not endorse another rate increase this month. Oil prices also weakened: Brent crude fell 0.8% to about $105.80 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate declined 0.8% to $92.98. Bloomberg contributed information.

why it matters

The broad regional selloff puts AI spending, US earnings, monetary policy and India’s currency defence at the centre of market attention, alongside weaker oil prices.

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