Asia markets in red: South Korea and Japan lead deep tech selloff; Japan industrial output revised down

Asian stock indices posted widespread losses on Thursday, following an overnight downturn on Wall Street driven by hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data and persistent volatility in the AI sector.

U.S. equity futures extended declines during Asian market hours. Dow futures hovered near flat (+0.04%), while S&P 500 futures fell 0.31% and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.77%.

In commodities, WTI crude oil eased toward $94 per barrel, while spot gold held firm near $4,150 per ounce.

Markets in South Korea fell 8.34% to around 5,540, extending its losing streak to seven sessions and falling to its lowest level since late July, as mounting concerns over AI valuations and financing costs intensified the global tech sell-off. The South Korean won traded around 1,347 per dollar.

Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY:IND) fell 4.60% toward the 65,000 level, extending its losing streak to six consecutive sessions. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen strengthened past 158 per dollar.

Japan Economic Data & BOJ Remarks: Final figures showed Japan’s August industrial production fell 2.4% month-over-month (deeper than the flash -1.7% reading). Core machine orders rose 5.2% MoM to JPY 1,069.8 billion in August. BOJ board member Junko Koeda signaled that the central bank should not hesitate on further rate hikes given upside inflation risks.

China's (SHCOMP) fell 2.38% to 3,715, while the Shenzhen Component dropped 1.9% to 11,874, with both indices hitting their lowest levels since August 2025 as investors weighed the potential for renewed trade tensions between China and the EU. The offshore yuan strengthened to around 6.69 per dollar.

Hong Kong (HSI) fell 1.43% to around 24,030.

India (SENSEX) rose 1.46% to 73,552. The Indian rupee strengthened to around 94.9 per dollar.

Australia (AS51) fell 0.09% to 8,686, extending losses to their weakest level in a week. Concurrently, the Australian dollar fell below $0.70, moving toward July levels hit early this month.

Australia’s unemployment rate held at 4.7% in September, above expectations of 4.6%. Employment contracted by 39,300 jobs to 14.78 million, missing forecasts for a 20,000 increase.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand Chief Economist Paul Conway stated that the central bank’s late-October interest rate decision remains open despite underlying price pressures.

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