Where Asia Closed Yesterday

The session split cleanly along semiconductor lines. TAIEX led the region with a +1.94% surge, riding contract chipmaker momentum, while KOSPI sank -2.04% — the sharpest single-day drop across major Asian indices — as memory and logic chip names gave back gains on weakening global demand signals.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added +0.59% to close at 70,474.96, supported by a weaker yen that continues to pad exporter margins. India’s Nifty 50 matched that pace, climbing +0.59% to 24,005.85 on steady domestic flows.

China was mixed. The Shanghai Composite edged up +0.44% to 4,112.44, but the Shenzhen Component slipped -0.53% to 16,119.17 — a growth-vs-value divergence that’s been a recurring theme in mainland markets. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell -0.63% to 22,881.02, dragged lower by tech and property names.

Australia’s ASX 200 dropped -0.64% to 8,722.90, with miners and banks both under pressure. Singapore’s STI dipped -0.18%, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 eased -0.23% — neither move significant enough to signal a trend shift.

US Overnight Snapshot

Wall Street delivered a rotation story, not a selloff story. The Dow scored a fresh record close on the back of a tepid jobs report that markets read as rate-cut friendly. The S&P 500 was essentially flat at -0.13%, but underneath the surface, sector performance diverged sharply.

Technology (XLK) dropped -2.71%, the worst sector by a wide margin, with chipmaker weakness cited as the primary drag. The Nasdaq Composite fell -0.80%. Meanwhile, Materials (XLB) rallied +1.94% and Financials (XLF) gained +1.53%, suggesting money rotated into cyclicals and rate-sensitive plays rather than exiting equities entirely.

VIX settled at 16.1, down -2.65% — comfortably below the 20 threshold. That tells you the market isn’t worried about systemic risk. The XLK weakness is a headwind for HKEX-listed tech names and could extend the KOSPI selloff at Friday’s open, but the broader tone isn’t fearful.

Commodity + FX Watch

Gold pushed to $4,140, up +1.66%, extending its safe-haven bid as the jobs report fueled rate-cut expectations. That’s supportive for gold miners on the ASX, one of the few sectors that could buck the broader index weakness.

WTI crude slipped -0.15% to $68.50 — effectively unchanged and not a major driver today. Copper gained +0.90% to $6.18, a constructive signal for Australian and Indonesian base metal producers, and loosely positive for the China industrial demand narrative.

On the FX side, USD/JPY fell -0.80% to 161, meaning the yen is strengthening. That’s a mild headwind for Japanese exporters who just rode yen weakness to a Nikkei gain yesterday — watch for some giveback. AUD/USD dipped -0.30% to 0.689, reflecting the broader dollar bid from risk-off positioning. A weaker Aussie dollar tends to support ASX export earnings but signals softening sentiment toward the Australian economy.

What to Watch Today

• KOSPI follow-through: A -2.04% drop on chipmaker weakness needs either confirmation or a bounce at Friday’s open. Samsung and SK Hynix will set the tone — if US after-hours chip sentiment stays negative, expect another leg lower in Seoul.
• TAIEX sustainability check: Yesterday’s +1.94% surge came on foundry strength, but with XLK down -2.71% overnight, Taiwan’s tech-heavy board faces a direct test of whether contract chipmaking can decouple from the broader semiconductor selloff.
• Gold miners vs. broader ASX: The ASX 200 dropped -0.64% yesterday, but gold above $4,140 gives Newmont and Northern Star a tailwind. Watch whether gold miners can diverge from the index — that’s your rotation-within-rotation trade for Friday.
• Central bank AI commentary: Headlines flagged AI hopes and fears dominating a global central bank meeting. Any policy-adjacent remarks on AI investment risk could move tech sentiment across Asia if they cross wires during the session.

Bottom Line

Friday’s Asia session opens into a rotation backdrop, not a risk-off one. The US overnight message is clear — money is leaving tech and moving into cyclicals and financials, which matters differently across the region. Korea and Taiwan face direct pressure from chipmaker weakness, while Japan and Australia have offsetting forces in yen dynamics and gold strength. Luna3 reads the setup as mildly defensive with pockets of opportunity in commodity-linked names and anything on the right side of the tech rotation.

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