Asian Stocks Fall and Oil Surges Following AI Slowdown Calls and Saudi Pipeline Shutdown
Asian markets opened the week mixed as semiconductor stocks plunged following AI leaders' calls to slow development. Meanwhile, oil prices surged after Saudi pipeline disruptions.
Asian markets experienced a mixed start to the trading week, accompanied by steep declines in semiconductor stocks. The downturn follows calls from prominent artificial intelligence leaders—including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Tesla/SpaceX chief Elon Musk—urging a slowdown in the development of advanced AI models.
Simultaneously, oil prices surged significantly following Saudi Arabia's decision to shut down a major oil pipeline after a drone strike. Market analysts warn that this closure could remove up to 4% of global oil supplies from the market.
Market Indices and Energy Prices
Regional trading benchmarks reflected widespread volatility across Asian exchanges at the opening bell:
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Nikkei 225: Dropped 0.8%
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KOSPI: Fell 2.2%
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Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite: Remained relatively stable
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Brent Crude: Rose 2.7% to $107.4 per barrel
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WTI Crude: Increased 2.8% to $102.9 per barrel
Semiconductor Sector Sell-Off
Technology and chip-related equities bore the brunt of the AI deceleration concerns across Tokyo and Seoul trading floors.
"The joint warnings from major tech figures have introduced immediate bearish sentiment into high-valuation semiconductor assets and tech conglomerates across Asian exchanges."
In Tokyo, Kioxia declined 6.5%, Resonac dropped 6.3%, and Ibiden weakened by 5%. Meanwhile, technology investment giant SoftBank, which holds a controlling stake in ARM, plummeted 10.6% to hit the bottom of the Nikkei index.
In Seoul, SK Hynix lost 4.3%, and its competitor Samsung fell 2.1%. SK Square, the tech investment arm holding controlling stakes for SK Hynix, plunged 5.6% at the bottom of the KOSPI index, while its parent company, SK Holdings, weakened by 4%.
In Hong Kong, Chinese chipmaker SMIC dropped 2.2%, Alibaba lost 2%, and optical systems giant Sunny Optical declined 2.9% to lead losses on the Hang Seng. Conversely, Lenovo bucked the trend, climbing 4.8% near the top of the index.
