Session at a Glance

KOSPI craters 6% on SK Hynix earnings miss as AI chip rout spills into second day across Seoul and Taipei.

The AI semiconductor selloff that began Monday deepened across Asia’s chip-heavy markets. South Korea’s KOSPI plunged another 6% — its second straight session of circuit-breaker-grade losses — after SK Hynix posted record revenue that still missed analyst estimates by 6%. Taiwan’s TAIEX dropped 3.8% as TSMC and memory suppliers sold off on fears that massive AI capital spending won’t generate adequate returns. China’s CXMT, the domestic DRAM champion, surged 466% on its IPO debut, amplifying competitive threat anxiety for Korean and Japanese chip equipment names.

The rotation was stark: money leaving AI hardware flowed into Hong Kong internet stocks (Hang Seng +2%), Indian IT (Nifty +1.1% led by Infosys), and Australian defensive healthcare. Xiaomi surged nearly 9% in Hong Kong as investors shifted toward consumer tech platforms with less AI-capex exposure. CSL rallied 7% on the ASX, extending a 30% recovery off its lows ahead of August earnings.

Singapore Airlines posted its first quarterly loss since 2022 — fuel costs from the Middle East conflict ballooned by S$991 million despite record revenue — dragging shares down 3.4%. The session’s clear dividing line: anything tied to AI chip supply chains got sold; everything else caught a bid.

Here are the standout movers across Asia-Pacific’s major exchanges for the session of Wednesday, July 29, grouped by market.

Australia (ASX)

↑ CSL +7.15%

Mega-cap · 128.1 (local)

Why: CSL extended a 30% recovery rally off eight-week lows as investors rotated into defensive healthcare names ahead of full-year results due August 18 — no single headline catalyst, just sector-rotation bid.

Pattern: Classic mean-reversion recovery after a >30% year-to-date drawdown. The rally into an earnings catalyst fits a re-rating setup, but needs revenue growth confirmation to sustain momentum above A$120.

↓ MQG -0.59%

Large-cap · 254.9 (local)

Why: No clear catalyst — Macquarie dipped modestly on a broadly positive ASX session, likely reflecting mild profit-taking in financials while healthcare and resources led.

Pattern: Noise-level move at -0.59% on a green-tape day. No technical signal — Macquarie is range-bound and the session’s underperformance is relative, not absolute.

Hong Kong (HKEX)

↑ 1810 +8.95%

Large-cap · 31.88 (local)

Why: Xiaomi surged nearly 9% as investors rotated from AI hardware into Hong Kong-listed consumer tech and internet platform names — part of a multi-day tech rally extending the Hang Seng’s winning streak.

Pattern: Momentum continuation within a sector rotation theme — money leaving chip equipment and memory stocks is flowing into lower-valuation platform plays. Breadth across HK tech (Tencent, Alibaba, Meituan all green) confirms this is sector-wide, not isolated.

China — Shanghai (SSE)

↑ 600030 +1.46%

Mid-cap · 28.5 (local)

Why: CITIC Securities likely benefited from surging trading volumes tied to CXMT’s blockbuster IPO week and elevated retail activity across mainland exchanges — brokerage revenue correlates directly with turnover.

Pattern: Brokerage stocks act as leveraged plays on market activity. The move fits a short-term volume-driven catalyst pattern rather than a fundamental re-rating — sustainability depends on whether IPO euphoria sustains turnover.

↓ 601857 -1.89%

Large-cap · 10.89 (local)

Why: PetroChina slipped 1.9% despite crude oil rising on Middle East supply concerns — likely profit-taking after recent energy strength, or capital rotating toward tech and brokerage plays on the mainland.

Pattern: Mild counter-trend pullback in a name that had been bid up on geopolitical risk premium. The divergence from rising crude suggests the move is flow-driven rotation rather than a fundamental deterioration signal.

China — Shenzhen (SZSE)

↑ 300059 +2.47%

Mid-cap · 19.9 (local)

Why: East Money Information, China’s dominant retail brokerage and financial data platform, rose on elevated trading volumes across Shenzhen — CXMT IPO week and tech rotation are driving retail engagement higher.

Pattern: Same brokerage-as-volume-proxy pattern as CITIC Securities. ChiNext-listed fintech platforms tend to amplify retail sentiment swings — the +2.5% move is moderate and consistent with a broad activity pickup rather than a breakout.

↓ 002415 -1.11%

Mid-cap · 35.74 (local)

Why: Hikvision dipped modestly — no clear catalyst in the last 36 hours. The video surveillance giant sits under persistent US sanctions overhang, and mild tech profit-taking likely contributed.

Pattern: Noise-level move at -1.1% within a sideways range. Hikvision trades on geopolitical sentiment as much as fundamentals — no technical pattern triggered here.

Japan (TSE)

↑ 6861 +9.36%

Large-cap · 7.759e+04 (local)

Why: Keyence surged 9.4% after reporting earnings on July 28 that likely beat analyst estimates — the factory automation and sensor giant has a history of post-earnings pops when results surprise to the upside.

Pattern: Earnings-driven gap-up in a high-quality industrial name. Keyence’s move is notable because it bucked the broader Nikkei selloff — factory automation demand is a distinct cycle from semiconductor capex, insulating it from the AI chip rout.

↓ 8035 -10.59%

Mid-cap · 5e+04 (local)

Why: Tokyo Electron cratered 10.6% as the AI chip equipment selloff deepened — the company reports earnings July 30 and investors are de-risking ahead of results after SK Hynix’s miss and China DUV competition fears from CXMT’s IPO.

Pattern: Pre-earnings de-risking compounded by sector contagion. Chip equipment names (Advantest, Kioxia, Tokyo Electron) are moving as a correlated basket — this is macro-driven selling, not company-specific. The -10% gap makes a dead-cat bounce likely near-term, but trend is decisively lower.

Singapore (SGX)

↑ H78 +4.69%

Mid-cap · 8.26 (local)

Why: Hongkong Land rallied 4.7% — no clear single catalyst in the last 36 hours. The Hong Kong-focused property developer may be catching a bid from the broader Hang Seng strength and rotation into value names.

Pattern: Hong Kong property stocks have been deeply depressed — the move looks like a sympathy bid from the Hang Seng’s +2% session. Check whether this is the start of a base-building pattern or just a one-day catch-up trade.

↓ C6L -3.35%

Mid-cap · 7.51 (local)

Why: Singapore Airlines dropped 3.4% after reporting its first quarterly loss since 2022 — a S$76 million net loss driven by a S$991 million fuel cost surge from the Middle East conflict and S$42 million in Air India associate losses.

Pattern: Classic earnings-disappointment gap-down. Record revenue failing to offset cost inflation is a margin compression narrative — the stock’s reaction will depend on whether investors view the fuel spike as transient or structural. Watch for support at pre-earnings levels.

South Korea (KOSPI)

↓ 000660 -9.61%

Large-cap · 1.401e+06 (local)

Why: SK Hynix plunged 9.6% after Q2 revenue of 79.3 trillion won missed the 84 trillion won consensus despite 257% year-over-year growth — record HBM profits weren’t enough for AI-inflated expectations, compounded by CXMT competitive threat.

Pattern: This is the epicentre of the AI chip selloff. SK Hynix is down ~40% from its June peak — the sell-the-news pattern on record earnings that miss elevated estimates is textbook momentum unwind. Circuit breakers triggered twice in two sessions signal capitulation-level selling.

Taiwan (TWSE)

↓ 3711 -9.93%

Mid-cap · 499 (local)

Why: ASE Technology, Taiwan’s largest chip packaging and testing company, dropped nearly 10% as the semiconductor supply chain selloff spread from memory and equipment into OSAT names — collateral damage from the AI capex sustainability panic.

Pattern: Sector contagion pattern — OSAT companies are downstream from the same AI capex cycle driving the TSMC/SK Hynix selloff. The TAIEX’s -3.8% session means even non-memory semiconductor names are getting hit indiscriminately. Watch for sector-wide capitulation washout.

India (NSE)

↑ INFY +4.70%

Mega-cap · 1158 (local)

Why: Infosys rallied 4.7% for a third consecutive session as Indian IT stocks surged — large AI deal pipeline (TCV $3.6B with 61% net new) and AI revenue reaching 8.2% of total positioned the stock as an AI beneficiary without hardware capex risk.

Pattern: Sector rotation into AI-services-not-hardware is the theme. Indian IT is catching a bid precisely because it’s on the revenue side of AI spending, not the capex side being sold. Momentum continuation with fundamental backing — the rally has legs if the rotation persists.

↓ SBIN -0.07%

Large-cap · 1012 (local)

Why: State Bank of India was essentially flat at -0.07% — no clear catalyst. The broader Nifty rally was led by IT stocks, and banking names sat out the session as sector rotation favoured tech over financials.

Pattern: Non-event. SBI’s flatness on a +1.1% Nifty day simply reflects that today’s Indian bid was sector-specific (IT) rather than broad-based. No technical pattern worth noting.

New Zealand (NZX)

↑ FPH +2.45%

Large-cap · 41.75 (local)

Why: Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 2.5% — no specific headline catalyst. The medical device company benefits from the same defensive healthcare rotation visible in CSL on the ASX as investors flee volatile tech.

Pattern: Defensive sector rotation bid. Healthcare names across the region (CSL, F&P Healthcare) are catching inflows as risk appetite for tech collapses — the pattern is cross-market and thematic rather than company-specific.

↓ MEL -1.37%

Mid-cap · 5.76 (local)

Why: Meridian Energy dipped 1.4% on no clear catalyst — mild profit-taking in a utility name that has been relatively stable. New Zealand’s small-cap utilities don’t have meaningful exposure to the day’s dominant themes.

Pattern: Noise-level move in a low-volatility utility. No technical pattern — Meridian is a yield play and the modest dip likely reflects normal daily variance rather than any directional signal.

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.

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