Asian Stocks Decline as Bond Yields and AI Concerns Weigh
Asian stocks declined on Wednesday as concerns over rising bond yields and artificial-intelligence (AI) stocks weighed on sentiment.
The Kospi in South Korea led the regional retreat, plummeting 5.7% to 6,487.34. Samsung Electronics shed 7.5%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix tumbled 8.8%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 sank 3.2% to 65,332.04 due to worries over rising bond yields and selling of tech shares.
The Shanghai Composite index fell 2.2% to 3,903.61. Shares in Unitree, a humanoid robot maker, soared nearly 630% on their trading debut on the STAR market, but UBTech's stock dropped 10.6%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost less than 0.1%, while Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.7% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2%.
The recent decline in AI-related stocks, including Micron Technology and Nvidia, has raised concerns that their prices have shot too high and may fizzle if AI proves less profitable than promised. Rising oil prices have also clouded market sentiment, with Brent crude gaining 0.6% to $91.57 per barrel.