Asian Stocks Mixed as Tech Wobbles, Oil Falls on Trump Sanctions Waiver
HONG KONG – Asian stocks traded unevenly Monday as technology shares remained volatile, while U.S. equity futures moved modestly higher ahead of another round of corporate earnings reports.
Oil prices dropped more than 1% after U.S. President Donald Trump waived broad sanctions against Russia, including measures targeting the country’s energy sector.
Technology stocks have faced selling pressure from Asia to Wall Street, weighing on broader markets as investors question whether the artificial intelligence boom can maintain its momentum.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.1% Monday to 5,729.58, recovering slightly after a steep decline last week. The index has fallen more than 18% over the past month and remains well below the 9,000 level it surpassed in June at the height of the global AI-driven rally.
Samsung Electronics rose 0.7%, while memory-chip producer SK Hynix declined 0.9%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.8% to 64,799.03. Tokyo Electron, a Japanese maker of chip-manufacturing equipment, lost 2.1%, while SoftBank Group, an investor in OpenAI, fell 3.6%.
Hong Kong’s stock exchange was closed for a holiday. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.2% to 3,722.20 after the country reported stronger-than-expected economic growth of 4.5% for the July-September quarter.
CXMT, China’s leading memory-chip manufacturer, dropped more than 7% despite projecting a strong profit for the first nine months.
Taiwan’s Taiex declined 1%, while shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker, fell 0.6%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.3% to 8,832.20.
India’s Sensex edged 0.1% lower.
Indonesia’s benchmark index dropped another 5% to its lowest level since 2020. The decline followed an 11% plunge Friday after index provider MSCI warned that it would remove Indonesia from “emerging market” status.
On Friday, Wall Street’s S&P 500 fell 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3%, while the technology-focused Nasdaq composite dropped 2.1%.
Markets are looking ahead to earnings from major U.S. companies this week, including Meta, Netflix, General Motors, Tesla and IBM. Strong corporate results have helped support the resilience of U.S. stocks in recent months.
Oil prices moved lower early Monday, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, down 1.8% at $107.86 a barrel.
U.S. benchmark crude fell 1.6% to $97.43 per barrel.
The decline came after Trump signed an executive order Friday pausing new, sweeping U.S. sanctions on Russia just days before they were scheduled to take effect. Ukraine expressed disappointment, while the decision is expected to allow more Russian energy exports to reach global markets.
Trump acted soon after saying earlier this month that he had reached a diesel agreement with Russia aimed at lowering elevated U.S. fuel prices before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Despite Monday’s decline, oil remains expensive compared with levels before the Iran war. Supply risks remain elevated because of tensions across the Middle East, including uncertainty over oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, keeping upward pressure on prices.
The U.S. dollar slipped slightly to 158.09 Japanese yen from 158.10 yen. The euro traded at $1.1231, down from $1.1234.
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AP Business Writer Alex Veiga contributed to this report.
