Asian Stocks Plunge as Tech Rout Continues Amid Trade Tensions

Asian stocks plummeted on Monday as technology shares came under renewed pressure, with Samsung and Alibaba leading losses. The selloff followed a Wall Street rebound on Friday but still ended the week lower.

U.S. equity futures remained under pressure in Asian trade, with Dow Jones down 0.3% and S&P 500 Futures 0.1% lower. Investors are looking ahead to Nvidia's earnings on Wednesday for a read on whether the AI boom can justify increasingly demanding valuations.

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium will also be closely watched for clues on the interest-rate outlook, although markets are not expecting significant forward guidance. The risk backdrop was further complicated by trade tensions after President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods following the collapse of trade talks.

Samsung's decline followed investor disappointment with its plans to return as much as 110 trillion won ($80 billion) to shareholders, while the broader semiconductor sector remained under pressure ahead of Nvidia's earnings. Alibaba's shares fell after the company priced an HK$80 billion ($10.2 billion) share placement at HK$112.70 per share, an 8.4% discount to its previous close.