Asian equities weakened on Thursday as Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped back below 70,000 and South Korea’s KOSPI failed to hold an early gain even after Samsung Electronics delivered record quarterly profit.
The Nikkei fell 0.7% to 69,559.50, with machinery makers and trading houses among the biggest drags. The KOSPI was down 0.2% at 6,793.26 by 10:30 am in Seoul after opening slightly higher.
Foreign investors sold a net 635.7 billion won of Korean shares, while institutions also reduced exposure. Rising global borrowing costs are overpowering even strong earnings in the region’s two biggest semiconductor markets.
Samsung’s record is not enough to lift the KOSPI
Samsung Electronics reported preliminary third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, up 782.5% from a year earlier, with revenue rising to 195 trillion won.
The profit figure was above brokerage consensus.
Yet Samsung shares slipped about 0.2% after an initial premarket gain, while the KOSPI remained under pressure. The reaction suggests much of the memory boom is already priced in and investors are now more sensitive to foreign flows, the won and the durability of AI spending.
Meritz Securities analyst Kim Sun-woo told The Korea Times that Samsung’s pricing strategy helped offset the drag from the stronger Korean currency.
Memory chips, including HBM products for AI systems, were widely seen as the main earnings driver.
Foreign investors also sold heavily on Wednesday, when the KOSPI fell nearly 2%, and Thursday’s record earnings were not enough to reverse that trend.
Nikkei slips as high borrowing costs hit cyclicals
The Nikkei’s decline had a different shape. Komatsu fell 4.8% and Mitsui & Co. lost 3.7%, as investors trimmed machinery and trading-house exposure.
The index has struggled to hold above 70,000 after a sharp run higher earlier this month. A slightly firmer yen near 157.9 per dollar removed some support for exporters, while high global bond yields kept pressure on valuation-sensitive shares.
Barclays strategists led by Emmanuel Cau said in analysis cited by MarketWatch that Japan remains one of the bank’s preferred equity markets, but further gains depend increasingly on stability in interest rates and energy prices.
AI debt and $100 oil keep the macro pressure high
The broader Asian backdrop was cautious. MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index outside Japan slipped 0.1%, while US equity futures were little changed and European futures edged higher.
The bigger issue is funding. Broadcom, Oracle and SpaceX are seeking tens of billions of dollars in financing for AI chips and infrastructure.
Broadcom is discussing more than $50 billion, while SpaceX is exploring about $40 billion.
That borrowing wave is arriving as sovereign debt markets are already strained. The US 10-year Treasury yield was around 5.30% after hitting a 24-year high, while Fed minutes showed most policymakers still saw another rate increase as likely this year.
Oil added another complication, as Brent traded around $101.14 and WTI near $89.02, keeping inflation risk alive.
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