Asian stock markets close sharply lower with profit-taking in technology shares; Kospi has 2nd circuit breaker this week

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A man passes in front of a brokerage, while an electronic panel displays a graph with information about the stock index, in the Central Business District of Beijing, China, on October 13, 2025 REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Asian stocks closed sharply lower on Friday as investors sold technology stocks to take profits after recent rallies linked to the boom in artificial intelligence.

Leading the movement, the South Korean Kospi index fell 5.81% in Seoul, to 8,411.21 points, after trading was temporarily interrupted for the second time this week. Semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 5.3% and 8.4%, respectively. Both maintain AI partnerships with the American Nvidia.

In Tokyo, the Japanese Nikkei fell 4.15%, to 69,360.88 points, also pressured by technology shares, such as SoftBank Group (-12.5%) and Advantest (-9.6%).

Elsewhere in Asia, the Hang Seng fell 1.76% in Hong Kong, to 22,671.86 points, and the Taiex registered a significant drop of 3.64% in Taiwan, to 44,571.76 points.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 2.26%, to 4,027.26 points, and the less comprehensive Shenzhen Composite dropped 3.13%, to 2,786.04 points.

Yesterday, the New York stock exchanges closed with no single direction, but the Nasdaq – an index with a heavy weight of technology stocks – fell for the fourth consecutive session, after Apple’s announcement of a price increase overshadowed Micron Technology’s positive report.

On Thursday, Asian markets had reacted sharply to Micron’s results and Qualcomm’s upward revision of annual forecasts.

In Oceania, the Australian stock market ignored the bad mood in Asia and ended slightly in the black today: the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.18% in Sydney, to 8,764.20 points.

Source: www.moneytimes.com.br
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