Asian Stocks Fall, Bucking U.S. Tech Rebound

By Sherry Qin

Asian stocks shrugged off Wall Street's rally overnight and continued to fall Tuesday amid ongoing artificial-intelligence investment concerns and elevated oil prices.

U.S. semiconductor and AI-related stocks staged a rebound Monday, pushing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq higher after last week's sharp pullback.

However, AI infrastructure stocks in Asia didn't follow suit. South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics fell 3.5% and 0.7%, respectively, early Tuesday. Japan's Kioxia Holdings gave up 2.4% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. lost 0.8%.

The index heavyweights sent regional benchmarks down, with South Korea's Kospi falling 3.4% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average 0.9% lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.8% after reopening following a holiday on Monday. China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.3%.

Investors are becoming more selective instead of treating the entire ecosystem as one trade, said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, in a note. "The market doesn't need every AI infrastructure company to succeed for the investment theme to work," he added.

Meanwhile, oil regained momentum amid continued concerns over supply disruption risks.

While Persian Gulf oil flows improved in the second week of October, the recovery may be under threat amid increased attacks, ANZ Research analysts said in a note. Iran has been providing Yemen's Houthi militia with intelligence and targeting assistance for attacks on Saudi Arabia, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Front-month WTI crude oil futures are 0.2% higher at $103.91 per barrel; front-month Brent crude oil futures are 0.3% higher at $109.89 a barrel.

Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 19, 2026 22:14 ET (02:14 GMT)