APAC Market Wrap - Jul 16

China A-Shares

The Shanghai Composite fell 1.85% to 3,882.41, and the ChiNext dropped 2.95% to 3,692.46, with the STAR 50 down 4.02%.

The Shanghai Composite slipped below 3,900 as a sector-wide correction in semiconductors triggered intense selling across growth names.

Hong Kong Equity Market

The Hang Seng Index rose 1.33% to 25,008.60, reclaiming the 25,000 mark, while the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.98% to 4,834.44.

Internet giants and consumer names led the advance, offsetting weak semiconductor performance.

Japanese Equity Market

The Nikkei 225 plummeted 2.79% to 66,835.54. Geopolitical risks and weak global cues battered tech and export heavyweights, with Kioxia diving 15.03% and SoftBank Group falling 6.27%.

South Korean Equity Market

The KOSPI crashed 6.37% to 6,820.60, triggering temporary programmatic trading halts (Sidecars). Major chipmakers led the rout, with Samsung Electronics down 8.77% and SK Hynix plunging 11.53%.

Australian Equity Market

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (.XJO) closed flat (-0.005%) at 8,840.70. Solid gains in financials and utilities neutralized a pullback in mining giants like BHP.

Singapore Equity Market

The Straits Times Index (.STI) slid 0.51% to 5,531.19. The market pulled back from recent highs on profit-taking and energy-driven inflation worries.

Malaysian Equity Market

The FBM KLCI rose 0.49% to 1,722.19. Financials and plantations led the index higher, decoupling from the broader regional tech sell-off.

Key Events

Japan's Noetra Alliance to Buy 27,500 Nvidia Rubin GPUs

Noetra—a joint venture formed by Sony, SoftBank, NEC, and Honda—announced plans to procure 27,500 Nvidia Rubin chips to build an AI platform for robotics. Construction is slated to begin in April 2027, with operations launching in June 2028.

South Korea Restricts Single-Stock Leveraged ETFs

To curb market volatility, financial regulators announced a ban on new single-stock leveraged ETF listings, raised minimum margins to 30 million won (cash-only), and restructured rebalancing rules to prevent end-of-session trading spikes.

TSMC Q2 Profit Hits Record High

TSMC’s Q2 net profit surged 77.4% to NT$706 billion (approx. $22.4 billion), handily beating Wall Street estimates. CEO CC Wei also announced plans to invest an additional $100 billion in the U.S.

Institutional Insights

Capital Economics: Expects the Bank of Korea to continue hiking rates in the coming months, driven by rising core inflation (now at 2.5%) and financial stability risks from housing.
Morgan Stanley: Forecasts the ECB to hold rates steady next week, noting that recent volatile oil prices introduce too much energy uncertainty for policymakers to commit to a directional stance.