Session at a Glance

Middle East de-escalation sends oil tumbling 5%, lifting Asia-Pacific bourses in broad risk-on rally.

Asia-Pacific markets rallied Monday after the US paused military strikes against Iran over the weekend, triggering a sharp crude oil sell-off — Brent dropped nearly 5% to around $92. Lower energy costs boosted importers across the region, with Australia’s ASX 200 jumping 1.39% and India’s Nifty 50 adding 0.87%.

China and Hong Kong led the charge. CATL’s record 40-billion-yuan buyback announcement and Nvidia’s $1 billion investment in South Korea’s Naver injected fresh momentum into the tech and EV complex. The Hang Seng gained nearly 1%, while Shanghai’s Composite rose 1.15%. Korea’s KOSPI climbed 0.97%, driven almost entirely by Naver’s 8%+ surge.

Taiwan was the lone laggard, slipping 0.05% as chip names gave back gains. The session’s cross-border theme was clear: geopolitical relief plus targeted corporate catalysts in China and Korea powered a risk-on rotation out of defensives and into growth.

Here are the standout movers across Asia-Pacific’s major exchanges for the session of Monday, July 27, grouped by market.

Australia (ASX)

↑ RIO +2.24%

Mega-cap · 163.6 (local)

Why: Rio Tinto rallied as the broader ASX surged on the Middle East de-escalation trade — lower oil lifts risk appetite, and China’s stimulus signals support iron ore demand expectations.

Pattern: Momentum continuation alongside the materials sector. Rio tracks China macro sentiment closely — the move aligns with Shanghai’s +1.15% session and CATL’s buyback-fueled rally.

Hong Kong (HKEX)

↑ 1810 +7.34%

Large-cap · 28.68 (local)

Why: Xiaomi surged 7.3% as EV delivery momentum accelerated — June deliveries rose 36% and the YU7 SUV has a 240,000-order backlog stretching 59 weeks, validating Xiaomi’s 550,000 full-year EV target.

Pattern: Breakout continuation on volume. Xiaomi’s dual smartphone-plus-EV narrative is attracting momentum flows — the move extends a multi-week uptrend and is part of the broader HK tech rally today.

↓ 0883 -1.53%

Large-cap · 23.2 (local)

Why: CNOOC slipped 1.5% as crude oil plunged nearly 5% on the US-Iran de-escalation — offshore oil producers take a direct hit when Brent drops from $97 to $92 in a single session.

Pattern: Sector rotation away from energy into growth and tech. CNOOC’s decline is the mirror image of the broader HK rally — classic risk-on/risk-off rotation within the Hang Seng.

China — Shanghai (SSE)

↑ 600030 +1.11%

Mid-cap · 28.26 (local)

Why: CITIC Securities edged higher as brokerage stocks tracked the broader Shanghai rally — higher index turnover directly lifts commission and trading revenue expectations for China’s largest broker.

Pattern: Brokerages are leveraged plays on market activity. The +1.1% move is modest relative to the index, suggesting steady participation rather than a breakout — watch for follow-through if volume sustains.

↓ 600900 -1.90%

Large-cap · 28.35 (local)

Why: Yangtze Power dropped 1.9% as investors rotated out of defensive utilities into higher-beta growth names — classic risk-on session behavior when macro sentiment improves.

Pattern: Mean-reversion pressure on a crowded defensive position. Utilities underperform in risk-on sessions as fund managers redeploy capital toward cyclicals and tech — this is sector rotation, not company-specific.

China — Shenzhen (SZSE)

↑ 300750 +4.44%

Mega-cap · 400 (local)

Why: CATL surged 4.4% after announcing a record 40-billion-yuan share buyback — the largest in A-share history — alongside H1 revenue up 55% to 277 billion yuan, calling its own stock severely undervalued.

Pattern: Catalyst-driven breakout backed by fundamental acceleration. A mega-cap announcing a record buyback plus 55% revenue growth is a rare combination — momentum traders and institutions both chase this setup.

↓ 000333 -0.44%

Large-cap · 84.13 (local)

Why: Midea dipped 0.4% in a muted session — no clear catalyst. The home appliance giant lagged the broader Shenzhen rally as capital rotated toward higher-beta EV and battery names like CATL.

Pattern: Relative underperformance in a risk-on tape. Midea’s consumer-staple profile makes it a source of funds when speculative appetite spikes — the small decline is sector rotation, not deterioration.

Japan (TSE)

↑ 7974 +6.63%

Mega-cap · 7431 (local)

Why: Nintendo jumped 6.6% as Switch 2 momentum builds — cumulative shipments near 20 million units, new game preorders are stacking up, and the console continues to outsell PlayStation 5 by roughly a million units per quarter.

Pattern: Momentum continuation on a product-cycle thesis. Nintendo’s hardware supercycle is the dominant driver — the stock is re-rating as investors price in multi-year software attach rates on a rapidly growing installed base.

↓ 4519 -7.66%

Mid-cap · 6848 (local)

Why: Chugai Pharmaceutical fell 7.7% in a classic sell-the-news reaction — Q2 earnings on July 24 showed revenue up 15% and core profit up 21%, but management held full-year guidance unchanged, disappointing bulls expecting a raise.

Pattern: Post-earnings mean-reversion after a pre-results run-up. Beat-but-no-raise is a reliable sell trigger in Japanese pharma — the stock remains well below its 52-week high of ¥10,700, suggesting limited dip-buying conviction.

Singapore (SGX)

↑ H78 +2.32%

Mid-cap · 7.95 (local)

Why: Hongkong Land gained 2.3% as the broader risk-on session lifted Hong Kong-exposed property names — the company’s Central HK office portfolio benefits from improved China-HK capital flow sentiment.

Pattern: Macro-driven sector lift rather than stock-specific breakout. HK property developers have been depressed — the move fits a broader pattern of beaten-down China-linked names catching a bid on risk-on days.

↓ A17U -0.40%

Mid-cap · 2.48 (local)

Why: Ascendas REIT slipped 0.4% as risk-on rotation pulled capital away from yield plays — REITs typically underperform when equities rally and rate-sensitive positioning shifts toward growth.

Pattern: Defensive underperformance in a risk-on tape. The decline is small and fits the session’s rotation theme — not a structural concern, just capital flowing from yield to beta.

South Korea (KOSPI)

↑ 035420 +8.43%

Mid-cap · 2.25e+05 (local)

Why: Naver surged 8.4% after Nvidia announced a $1 billion investment to buy 7.2 million newly issued shares, funding an expansion of Naver’s Sejong AI datacenter from 55MW to 200MW with Vera Rubin and Blackwell GPU systems.

Pattern: Catalyst-driven breakout — a strategic investment from the world’s most valuable chipmaker is a powerful re-rating signal. Naver instantly becomes a direct AI infrastructure play in Korean markets, attracting new institutional flows.

↓ 000270 -0.08%

Mid-cap · 1.304e+05 (local)

Why: Kia was essentially flat at -0.08% — no clear catalyst. The automaker was left behind as KOSPI flows concentrated in Naver and AI-adjacent names rather than traditional auto exporters.

Pattern: Neglect trade in a theme-driven session. When a single catalyst (Nvidia-Naver) dominates flow, non-AI large caps often sit flat — isolated non-event rather than a bearish signal.

Taiwan (TWSE)

↑ 2317 +0.20%

Large-cap · 253 (local)

Why: Hon Hai (Foxconn) inched up 0.2% in a mixed Taiwan session — the TAIEX was the region’s only decliner. No specific news, but Foxconn’s AI server assembly business provides a floor of support.

Pattern: Range-bound consolidation. Hon Hai is holding near recent levels while the broader index digests gains — the minimal move suggests balanced buyer-seller flow with no directional conviction.

↓ 2454 -1.87%

Large-cap · 3680 (local)

Why: MediaTek fell 1.9% as Taiwan’s chip sector gave back recent gains — the TAIEX was the only red index in the region, with semiconductor names facing mild profit-taking after a strong run.

Pattern: Short-term mean-reversion in a sector that has led the market higher. MediaTek’s pullback is modest relative to its year-to-date gains — more consistent with healthy consolidation than trend reversal.

India (NSE)

↑ INFY +3.65%

Mega-cap · 1079 (local)

Why: Infosys rallied 3.7% as Indian IT stocks outperformed broadly — the BSE IT index has been gaining momentum on rupee weakness and improved outsourcing demand signals from US clients heading into Q2 earnings season.

Pattern: Sector rotation into Indian IT on macro tailwinds. Infosys is a bellwether — when the IT index moves 3%+, it typically signals institutional reallocation rather than stock-specific news. Momentum continuation if IT sector breadth holds.

↓ HDFCBANK -0.32%

Mega-cap · 740.4 (local)

Why: HDFC Bank dipped 0.3% as capital rotated from heavyweight financials into IT and growth sectors — no negative news, just a source-of-funds dynamic in a session where the Nifty IT index outperformed.

Pattern: Mild defensive underperformance. HDFC Bank is the Nifty’s largest weight and often serves as a funding source during sector rotation — the 0.3% dip is noise, not signal.

New Zealand (NZX)

↑ SPK +3.73%

Mid-cap · 1.945 (local)

Why: Spark New Zealand jumped 3.7% — no specific headline in the last 36 hours. The move may reflect positioning ahead of earnings or a catch-up rally as NZX-listed telecoms lagged the broader regional risk-on trade.

Pattern: Potential pre-earnings positioning or technical bounce off support. Spark’s outsized move relative to the NZX warrants monitoring — if volume is elevated, it could signal informed buying ahead of a catalyst.

↓ AIR -2.30%

Large-cap · 0.425 (local)

Why: Air New Zealand fell 2.3% despite lower oil prices — the airline may be facing route-specific demand concerns or investor skepticism about whether the fuel cost savings will flow through to margins given competitive pressures.

Pattern: Divergence from the expected oil-price tailwind. Airlines typically rally when crude drops 5%, so the sell-off suggests stock-specific headwinds. Worth checking upcoming guidance or load-factor data for context.

Reading the Session

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.

Read next: Asia Pacific Markets · What Is a P/E Ratio? · What Is a Dividend?