Asian stocks fall, with South Korea’s Kospi down 3.7%, ahead of AI earnings
Seoul and Tokyo sold off after Monday’s Wall Street rebound; oil and unrest in France added to the caution.
Asian stocks fell on Tuesday, giving back ground after a technology-led rebound on Wall Street. South Korea's Kospi closed down 3.73% at 5,552.74, per Yonhap, and CNBC also put the drop at 3.73%. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down about 1.3% at 64,075.42, per Nikkei.
Reuters said geopolitical risks rattled sentiment ahead of results from AI bellwethers. Meta reports Wednesday, with Tesla and chipmakers Lam Research and Texas Instruments later in the week. Pepperstone's Chris Weston said in a note that the market is happy to cover shorts and unwind defensive trades, but that is different from having the conviction to rebuild aggressive exposure to AI (Reuters). Our week-ahead calendar has the full earnings schedule.
Europe opened lower. AP said France's CAC 40 dipped 0.4% in early trading, Germany's DAX shed 0.7% and Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.6%. Reuters reported that French authorities set curfews in parts of Paris, Lille and Nice after a weekend of riots and looting during nationwide anti-government protests.
U.S. futures were mixed early Tuesday, per CNBC: S&P 500 futures flat, Nasdaq-100 futures down 0.31% and Dow futures up 0.2%. Monday's rebound is covered in our Dusk Ledger.
