Asian markets experienced mixed movements as most shares climbed, while South Korea’s Kospi saw a substantial decline of nearly 5%. This drop came amid reduced investments in stocks connected to artificial intelligence. Japan’s stock markets remained closed due to a holiday. Meanwhile, U.S. futures displayed varied trends.
Oil prices advanced by more than 2%, with Brent crude rising above $90 per barrel. This increase correlated with escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as they inched towards a potential conflict. The U.S. announced its intention to continue strikes for the ninth consecutive night, and Iran retaliated by targeting U.S. allies in the Middle East. Brent crude, the global benchmark, surged 2.6% to $90.40 per barrel, while the U.S. crude benchmark increased by 2.2% to $83.58 per barrel.
In commodities commentary, ING strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey warned of further escalation leading to attacks across the Persian Gulf. They stated that tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, crucial for oil transportation, had significantly slowed, intensifying supply concerns.
Within Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, which previously benefitted greatly from AI-related investments, fell 4.9% to 6,490.97. Significant losses were observed in Samsung Electronics, down 4.4%, and memory chip maker SK Hynix, down 3.3%. In contrast, Taiwan’s Taiex, another AI-focused index, slightly decreased by less than 0.1%, with TSMC rising 2% after announcing a $100 billion expansion in U.S. chipmaking capacity.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 2.1%, closing at 25,105.78. The Shanghai Composite index went up 1.2% to 3,808.39. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 saw a minor rise of 0.2%, reaching 8,815.30. Meanwhile, India’s Sensex dropped 0.9%.
Last Friday, a decline in AI-related stocks contributed to a downward trend in global markets. Concerns over potential bubble risks in the AI sector led investors to cash in on prior gains. Additionally, the introduction of the new Kimi K3 model by Moonshot AI in China caused market disruptions reminiscent of the significant impact from China’s earlier ‘DeepSeek moment’ in 2025. This event underscored the increasing competition from Chinese AI models against Western counterparts like Claude from Anthropic and GPT from OpenAI.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 finished the week 1% lower, closing at 7,457.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 0.8% to 52,146.42, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.4% to 25,520.24. Chipmaking companies experienced setbacks: Nvidia declined 2.2%, Broadcom and AMD each fell 1%. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, saw a 5.4% drop, hitting its lowest stock price since its Nasdaq debut.
In currency exchanges, the U.S. dollar weakened against the Japanese yen, reaching 162.37 yen from a previous 162.43 yen. The euro moved up slightly to $1.1446 from $1.1438.
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