Asian stock markets close lower with profit taking in tech stocks

Asian stocks closed sharply lower on Friday (26), 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%).

In other parts of 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 (25), Asian markets had reacted sharply to Micron's results and the upward revision of Qualcomm's annual projections.

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: CNN