Key Takeaways
- • South Korea's Kospi index fell 7.7% to 5,548.78, well below the 9,000 level it crossed in June at an all-time high, as a tech sell-off deepened across Asia.
- • Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled 4.8% to 64,489.06, with SoftBank Group down 9.4%, Tokyo Electron off 7.3% and Kioxia Holdings down 11.2%.
- • Samsung Electronics slid 9.5% and SK Hynix plunged 11.4% in Seoul, while Taiwan's Taiex fell 3% and TSMC dropped 2.2% ahead of its earnings report.
- • The declines followed a Wall Street sell-off on Wednesday, after U.S. September CPI rose 3.7% year-on-year, up from 3.4% in August and above economist expectations; the Nasdaq fell 1.9%.
Summary
Asian shares fell sharply on Thursday, October 15, 2026, according to the Associated Press, as a sell-off in technology shares deepened and markets in South Korea and Japan sank. The selloff followed losses on Wall Street on Wednesday, when the S&P 500 dropped 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 1.9% as AI-related stocks fell. Nvidia lost 3.2%, Broadcom gave up 3.1% and Advanced Micro Devices declined 5.7%. U.S. equity futures were also lower.
The trigger cited was U.S. inflation data released Wednesday, which showed the consumer price index rising 3.7% year-on-year in September, up from 3.4% in August and worse than economists had expected. U.S. equity futures were lower following the report.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi lost 7.7% to 5,548.78, far below the 9,000 mark it crossed in June at its all-time high, a peak driven by optimism over the global artificial intelligence boom. Samsung Electronics slid 9.5%, and memory chipmaker SK Hynix plunged 11.4%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 4.8% to 64,489.06. OpenAI investor SoftBank Group lost 9.4%, chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron dropped 7.3%, and memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings lost 11.2%.
Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan's Taiex, which also benefited from the AI boom, fell 3%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) dropped 2.2% ahead of its earnings report. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1% to 24,071.25, the Shanghai Composite slipped 1.4% to 3,713.22, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.1% to 8,715.60.
Additional coverage in the publisher's context describes a broader pattern of repeated chip and AI-linked sell-offs across the region, with South Korea's Kospi and SK Hynix among the hardest hit, and includes reports of oil prices and bond yields weighing on markets. These accounts are not specific to the figures reported for October 15 and should be read as background on the recent trend.
The trigger cited was U.S. inflation data released Wednesday, which showed the consumer price index rising 3.7% year-on-year in September, up from 3.4% in August and worse than economists had expected. U.S. equity futures were lower following the report.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi lost 7.7% to 5,548.78, far below the 9,000 mark it crossed in June at its all-time high, a peak driven by optimism over the global artificial intelligence boom. Samsung Electronics slid 9.5%, and memory chipmaker SK Hynix plunged 11.4%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 4.8% to 64,489.06. OpenAI investor SoftBank Group lost 9.4%, chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron dropped 7.3%, and memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings lost 11.2%.
Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan's Taiex, which also benefited from the AI boom, fell 3%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) dropped 2.2% ahead of its earnings report. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1% to 24,071.25, the Shanghai Composite slipped 1.4% to 3,713.22, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.1% to 8,715.60.
Additional coverage in the publisher's context describes a broader pattern of repeated chip and AI-linked sell-offs across the region, with South Korea's Kospi and SK Hynix among the hardest hit, and includes reports of oil prices and bond yields weighing on markets. These accounts are not specific to the figures reported for October 15 and should be read as background on the recent trend.
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