Session at a Glance

KOSPI’s historic crash-and-rebound week overshadows Hang Seng’s stimulus-fueled 3.7% rally.

Asia-Pacific markets split sharply this week as a semiconductor selloff triggered South Korea’s worst monthly decline since 1997 — before a record single-day 17.9% KOSPI rebound on July 31 erased much of the damage. The whiplash was driven by margin-call cascades in leveraged Korean chip ETFs, followed by Microsoft and Meta earnings beats that reignited AI confidence overnight.

Hong Kong led the region with a 3.7% weekly gain as investors priced in fresh Beijing stimulus after weak macro data, while Australia’s ASX 200 climbed 2.3% on commodity strength and a cooler-than-expected CPI print ahead of the RBA’s August 11 decision. India’s Nifty 50 rose 2.6%, powered by Bajaj Finance hitting record highs on a Q1 earnings beat.

The laggards tell the chip story: Taiwan’s TAIEX fell 1.2% as Quanta Computer’s $2.2 billion equity raise weighed on tech sentiment, and Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.4% as chip-equipment names like Tokyo Electron bore the brunt of the mid-week selloff despite strong underlying earnings.

Here are the biggest movers across Asia-Pacific’s major exchanges for the week ending Saturday, August 1, grouped by market — each figure is the stock’s move over the full trading week.

Australia (ASX)

↑ MIN +8.29%

Mid-cap · 57.98 (local)

Why: Mineral Resources surged on record FY26 production volumes and a 92% quarterly jump in realised lithium prices, with Bald Hill mine restart boosting the outlook.

Pattern: Momentum continuation on a stock up 167% over the past year — the weekly move extends a multi-month lithium price recovery trend rather than a standalone breakout.

↓ MQG -0.76%

Large-cap · 253.1 (local)

Why: No single catalyst — Macquarie drifted lower as broader financials underperformed the mining-led ASX rally, with rising bond yields pressuring bank and financial-services names.

Pattern: Sector rotation out of financials into resources over the week — a relative laggard in a rising market rather than a standalone selloff signal.

Hong Kong (HKEX)

↑ 9999 +10.71%

Mid-cap · 207.8 (local)

Why: NetEase rode the broader Hang Seng stimulus rally and lingering tailwinds from Beijing’s batch approval of 104 new domestic game titles, lifting the gaming sector.

Pattern: Beta play on the Hang Seng’s 3.7% weekly gain — mid-cap tech/gaming names amplified the index move, consistent with stimulus-driven risk-on rotation into consumer tech.

China — Shanghai (SSE)

↑ 600519 +4.10%

Mega-cap · 1351 (local)

Why: Kweichow Moutai gained after raising ex-factory prices 7.9% to CNY 1,369 per bottle effective July 18, signalling pricing power amid Beijing’s consumption-support narrative.

Pattern: Defensive mega-cap bid — Moutai’s pricing power makes it a consensus vehicle for China stimulus positioning, and the 4% weekly move aligns with broad Shanghai Composite drift higher.

China — Shenzhen (SZSE)

↑ 002415 +6.09%

Mid-cap · 37.65 (local)

Why: Hikvision rallied as China tech names benefited from broad stimulus optimism and renewed investor interest in AI-adjacent hardware plays on the Shenzhen board.

Pattern: Sector-wide risk-on move — Shenzhen mid-cap tech outperformed the Shanghai Composite as stimulus hopes channelled into higher-beta names, consistent with a momentum continuation pattern.

Japan (TSE)

↑ 6861 +12.99%

Large-cap · 8.115e+04 (local)

Why: Keyence surged after Q1 FY2027 earnings beat expectations by nearly 11%, with sales up 33% year-on-year to JPY 346 billion and operating margins expanding 450 basis points.

Pattern: Earnings-driven breakout — a clean fundamental catalyst separating Keyence from the broader Japan chip selloff, with the 13% weekly move pricing in margin expansion the market hadn’t expected.

↓ 8035 -11.43%

Mid-cap · 5.55e+04 (local)

Why: Tokyo Electron was hit hardest by the global semiconductor equipment selloff, dropping 11% as investors aggressively de-risked chip-equipment exposure ahead of US big-tech earnings.

Pattern: High-beta mean-reversion candidate — the selloff was sector-driven rather than fundamental (Q1 revenue up 33%, net income up 40%), suggesting the weekly decline overshoots the earnings reality.

Singapore (SGX)

↑ H78 +4.50%

Mid-cap · 8.12 (local)

Why: Hongkong Land gained as the broader Singapore market tracked the Hang Seng’s China-stimulus rally, with property-linked names benefiting from improved sentiment on Chinese consumption.

Pattern: Macro-driven drift higher — the 4.5% weekly move tracks the Hong Kong/China bid rather than a Singapore-specific catalyst, consistent with the regional risk-on rotation.

South Korea (KOSPI)

↑ 005930 +5.21%

Mega-cap · 2.625e+05 (local)

Why: Samsung Electronics whipsawed — crashing 13% on Tuesday on China chip self-sufficiency fears, then rebounding 27% on Thursday after US tech earnings reignited AI demand confidence.

Pattern: Violent mean-reversion after a margin-call-driven overshoot — the net +5.2% weekly gain reflects the bounce exceeding the crash, a pattern typical of leveraged-liquidation-then-recovery cycles.

↓ 006400 -7.24%

Mid-cap · 3.97e+05 (local)

Why: Samsung SDI lagged the KOSPI rebound as battery and EV-supply-chain names were excluded from the chip-driven recovery trade, with investors rotating back into semiconductors over batteries.

Pattern: Sector divergence within Korea — the -7.2% weekly drop while chip names rebounded signals active rotation out of EV battery into AI/memory, a thematic rebalancing pattern.

Taiwan (TWSE)

↑ 2330 +3.19%

Mega-cap · 2425 (local)

Why: TSMC gained 3.2% as AI chip demand narrative held firm — the company raised 2026 capex to $60-64 billion and CEO reiterated demand will exceed capacity for years.

Pattern: Momentum continuation within a structural AI capex supercycle — TSMC decoupled from the broader TAIEX decline, confirming its role as the consensus AI infrastructure hold across Asia.

↓ 2382 -11.13%

Mid-cap · 291.5 (local)

Why: Quanta Computer dropped 11% after announcing a $2.2 billion global depositary share offering — Taiwan’s largest equity sale in 19 years — triggering dilution-driven selling pressure.

Pattern: Classic equity-issuance overhang — large secondary offerings reliably compress share prices in the short term as the market absorbs new supply, independent of underlying business fundamentals.

India (NSE)

↑ BAJFINANCE +12.68%

Mid-cap · 1141 (local)

Why: Bajaj Finance surged to a record high after Q1 FY27 profit rose 29% year-on-year to ₹5,436 crore, beating estimates, with AUM crossing ₹4 trillion and NPAs improving to 1.20%.

Pattern: Earnings-driven breakout to all-time highs — six brokerages raised targets post-results, confirming the move as fundamental re-rating rather than speculative momentum.

↓ HINDUNILVR -2.04%

Large-cap · 2101 (local)

Why: Hindustan Unilever drifted lower as investors rotated out of defensive FMCG names into financials and cyclicals following the strong Bajaj Finance-led rally in Indian banks.

Pattern: Sector rotation drag — FMCG underperformance while financials hit record highs is a classic late-cycle risk-on signal within the Indian market, not a company-specific deterioration.

New Zealand (NZX)

↑ FPH +3.22%

Large-cap · 40.69 (local)

Why: Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 3.2% on continued institutional demand for defensive healthcare exposure amid regional volatility, with no single news catalyst driving the move.

Pattern: Defensive bid in a volatile week — NZX healthcare outperformed as a low-correlation safe harbour while semiconductor and tech names whipsawed across the region.

↓ AIR -4.60%

Large-cap · 0.415 (local)

Why: Air New Zealand dropped 4.6% as the airline sector faced headwinds from elevated fuel costs and softer trans-Tasman travel demand, with no specific earnings catalyst.

Pattern: Continued mean-reversion lower for a structurally challenged carrier — the stock trades near multi-year lows at NZD 0.415, reflecting persistent margin pressure in the NZ aviation market.

Reading the Week

The exchange-by-exchange breakdown above surfaces both market-specific catalysts and cross-border themes. When multiple exchanges move together, look for a macro driver (USD move, commodity price, risk-on/off shift). Isolated single-exchange moves tend to reflect local earnings, regulatory news, or sector rotation.

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