From South Korea to Japan: Why are Asian stock markets bleeding billions? Expert reveals shocking details

Asian stock markets saw sharp declines on Friday as a global selloff in technology shares intensified, resulting in South Korea's main stock index, KOSPI, falling over 8 per cent, forcing authorities to temporarily halt trading through a circuit breaker mechanism. Japan's Nikkei 225 index also fell nearly 5 per cent amid fears of recent surge in the artificial intelligence-related stocks has run too far and too fast.

In addition, Hong Kong's Hang Seng also declined 2.4 per cent, the blue-chip CSI300 index of China fell by 2.9 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite lost over 2 per cent. Friday's losses came after another broad selloff across Asian markets earlier this week. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index, excluding Japan, declined 3.8 per cent, marking the biggest weekly decline in more than a year. This followed a strong rally in regional markets earlier in the quarter.

Why the sudden fall of Asian stock markets?

The development unfolded after American technology giant Apple announced to jack up prices of some of its product lines by as much as 20 per cent. It raised prices across its iPad and MacBook, citing a rise in chip costs due to the recent global AI surge. Apple has also increased prices across TVs and HomePods. Additionally, the Asian market tanked as the South Korean government announced to tax unrealised gains on equities, which weighed on sentiment for AI and chip-related stocks.

Following the announcement on Thursday, it triggered panic across markets, prompting investors to opt to reduce their exposures in AI and tech stocks. The Nasdaq Composite index in the US fell by 0.5 per cent overnight. Similarly, Apple's shares declined by more than 6 per cent. Competitor Dell declined 5.5 per cent, and the rest of the other big tech stocks in the US also ended lower. In Asia, shares of SK Hynix tumbled more than 8 per cent on Friday, while TSMC and Samsung recorded losses between 2 and 5 per cent.

Also read: AI is making Xbox consoles more expensive. Here's why Microsoft raised prices

Shortages of graphics and memory chips

The decline comes as companies worldwide continue to grapple with rising costs and shortages of graphics and memory chips. The global semiconductor industry is largely dominated by major players such as SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron Technology. These manufacturers have increasingly prioritised the production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI data centres because they generate higher profits. As a result, production capacity for chips commonly used in consumer electronics—including smartphones, personal computers, laptops and other devices—has been significantly reduced.

The shift has contributed to a shortage of consumer-grade chips, driving up prices across the electronics sector. The situation, often referred to as the "RAMageddon" shortage, has prompted companies such as HP Inc., Dell Technologies and ASUS to increase prices. Shortly after Apple announced price hikes on Monday, gaming giant Xbox also revealed price increases of up to 25 per cent, marking its second such move within a year.

Industry experts also underscored that Asian stock markets have come under intense pressure in recent months due to geopolitical tensions, soaring oil prices, and growing competition from China, along with concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) valuations. Reacting to the recent development in Asia's overall stock market, Harsha Vardhana VM, Founder and CEO of Atom Financial Services Group, said the current selloff is driven not only by a single factor but several challenges hitting the markets simultaneously.

"Oil is probably the most straightforward piece. Once the US-Iran conflict pushed crude past $100 a barrel, the damage spread quickly and widely. South Korea, Japan, and India do not produce enough oil domestically to absorb that kind of price move without feeling it. Companies saw their costs go up. Households started pulling back on spending. And then the Federal Reserve, watching energy keep inflation elevated, found itself with fewer reasons to cut rates. A cautious Fed means a stronger dollar, and a stronger dollar is generally bad news for Asian currencies and the foreign investors who hold Asian assets. So what started as a geopolitical shock in the Middle East ended up sitting in the profit margins of a Korean steelmaker or an Indian airline. That is how connected these things are," Harsha Vardhana VM said.

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AI rally loses momentum

The technology sector, which powered most of the market of Asia gains in 2025, has also become a source of concern. South Korea and Taiwan benefited enormously from the booming demand for semiconductors and AI-related technologies. However, investors are now having several questions about whether stock prices accurately reflect company earnings. According to Vardhana, valuations in the semiconductor sector became increasingly disconnected from fundamentals.

"The AI story is a bit more uncomfortable to tell, because it involves markets getting carried away with a genuinely real theme. South Korea and Taiwan had a spectacular 2025. The world wanted semiconductors, and these were the countries that made them. But at some point, the valuations stopped reflecting what companies were actually earning and started reflecting what investors hoped they would earn. When Broadcom came out in early June with AI chip revenue that fell short of expectations, it was not a disaster on its own. But it was enough to remind everyone that the earnings story had not quite caught up to the price story, and valuations were stretched too. In markets priced the way those were, that reminder tends to be expensive," he said.

"Most of the coverage around the Asian selloff has focused on oil prices and chip stocks, and those are fair explanations as far as they go. But there is a bigger and more unsettling story sitting underneath all of it that is not getting the attention it deserves. For a long time, the Asian growth story rested on a fairly comfortable assumption. Countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan had built real advantages in industries the world depended on. What 2026 is starting to reveal is that some of that advantage was genuinely earned, and some of it was there simply because China had not yet decided to show up and compete for it," he added.

China's growing competitive challenge

Beyond short-term concerns over oil prices and technology stocks, Vardhana believes a more significant structural shift is taking place across Asia. For decades, countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Japan built strong competitive advantages in sectors ranging from semiconductors and batteries to automobiles and shipbuilding. However, China is increasingly challenging that dominance.

"What 2026 is starting to reveal is that some of that advantage was genuinely earned, and some of it was there simply because China had not yet decided to show up and compete for it. South Korea is the place where this is most stark. The country built its entire economic identity around a handful of industries. Semiconductors. Displays. Batteries. Automobiles. Shipbuilding. For decades, these were South Korean industries, and that was more or less taken for granted. Chinese firms have reportedly now overtaken South Korea in seven of those eight categories. Not nibbled away at the edges. Overtaken. And the money knew this before the headlines did. Foreign investors had been quietly selling out of Samsung for months before the big crash. The 12.2% single-day fall in the KOSPI in March was not a shock to anyone who had been paying attention. It was more like a conclusion that markets had been slowly writing for a while and finally signed off on," Vardhana said.

He added that China's own equity markets have their problems; however, separate from the role of the Shanghai Composite on any given day, the competitive pressure that Chinese manufacturers are putting on the rest of the region is not a cyclical thing. Vardhana noted that it does not ease when sentiment improves or when a ceasefire stops, as it is a slow, structural reshaping of who makes what and at what price. That is the part of this story worth sitting with.

What does it mean for India?

India faces a different set of challenges. While the country has benefited from domestic growth drivers such as interest rate cuts, recovering consumption and government-led infrastructure spending, valuations remain demanding. Vardhana warned that Indian equities have little room for disappointment.

"India is caught in the crossfire even though its problems are different in nature. The domestic fundamentals, rate cuts, a recovering consumption cycle, and a government capex push are still intact. But at a forward P/E of 23 times, there is no room for earnings to disappoint in the second half of the year. Clients with heavy exposure to global tech funds or IT-heavy portfolios should be looking at rebalancing toward domestic consumption and quality financials. Gold deserves a place in the allocation while oil and geopolitical risk remain elevated. And anyone waiting for FII flows to rescue Indian markets in the near term should probably plan around domestic conviction instead," he further said.