Session at a Glance

KOSPI explodes 18% in record single-day rebound as Samsung, SK Hynix hit limit-up on AI spending relief.

Asia-Pacific markets staged a historic semiconductor-led rally after Microsoft and Amazon posted stronger-than-expected earnings overnight, easing fears that AI infrastructure spending was peaking. South Korea’s KOSPI surged nearly 18% — its largest single-day gain ever — reclaiming losses from a brutal three-session 17% selloff. SK Hynix hit the 30% daily limit and Samsung soared 27%. Taiwan’s TAIEX jumped 8% on TSMC strength.

Japan’s Nikkei gained 4% as SoftBank hit limit-up on OpenAI IPO optimism and Arm Holdings momentum. India was mixed — Bajaj Finance surged 9% to a record high on a Q1 profit beat, while IT heavyweight TCS dropped on sector rotation away from services into financials. Australia and Hong Kong were relatively muted, with the Hang Seng flat despite Alibaba’s 4.7% pop.

The dominant cross-border theme was unambiguous: memory and foundry chipmakers led everywhere, while defensive and non-tech names lagged. Xiaomi’s 7% drop in Hong Kong and Denso’s 10% plunge in Tokyo showed the market punishing anything outside the AI beneficiary orbit.

Here are the standout movers across Asia-Pacific’s major exchanges for the session of Friday, July 31, grouped by market.

Australia (ASX)

↑ BHP +1.96%

Mega-cap · 60.31 (local)

Why: Anglo American flagged its transformation plan on track after narrowing losses, lifting sentiment across diversified miners — BHP benefited as the sector heavyweight with iron ore and copper exposure.

Pattern: Modest move in a risk-on session; BHP tracking broader commodity sector rather than breaking out — price action consistent with mean-reversion bounce within a consolidation range.

↓ CSL -3.81%

Mega-cap · 123.1 (local)

Why: No specific headline — CSL has been under pressure from a May guidance downgrade and Vifor impairment overhang, and likely saw rotation out of defensives into risk-on tech and miners during today’s rally.

Pattern: Defensive biotech lagging a risk-on tape is classic sector rotation. CSL’s broader trend remains bearish since the May profit warning — today’s drop extends the downtrend rather than signaling a new catalyst.

Hong Kong (HKEX)

↑ 9988 +4.65%

Mega-cap · 117 (local)

Why: Alibaba rallied on the broader tech rebound and DeepSeek’s 1GW Ulanqab data center announcement, reinforcing China’s sovereign compute push and demand for cloud infrastructure where BABA is a key provider.

Pattern: Momentum continuation — Alibaba riding the global AI infrastructure spending narrative. The move aligns with the cross-border chip rally theme, positioning BABA as a China cloud beneficiary of the same capex cycle.

↓ 1810 -7.28%

Large-cap · 28.78 (local)

Why: Xiaomi dropped sharply after unveiling its SkyNomad EV and two hybrids priced below expectations, raising concerns about margin compression in the company’s new vehicle segment.

Pattern: Pricing-below-expectations on a new product launch is a classic margin-squeeze catalyst. The sharp drop in a broadly flat Hang Seng session suggests stock-specific selling, not sector rotation — isolated event risk.

China — Shanghai (SSE)

↓ 600036 -2.29%

Large-cap · 39.62 (local)

Why: No clear catalyst — China Merchants Bank likely saw sector rotation out of financials into tech and semis as the Shanghai session favored AI and compute plays over traditional banking names.

Pattern: Defensive financials underperforming a tech-led tape is a familiar pattern. The 2.3% drop in a session where the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7% signals narrow market breadth favoring growth over value.

China — Shenzhen (SZSE)

↑ 002415 +5.70%

Mid-cap · 37.65 (local)

Why: Hikvision rallied as part of the broader China tech rebound — as a major AI and smart hardware player, it benefited from renewed confidence in AI infrastructure spending after US mega-cap earnings beats.

Pattern: Momentum continuation within the AI hardware supply chain theme that drove the entire AP session. Hikvision’s mid-cap status amplifies beta — the 5.7% move tracks the broader Shenzhen tech index rally.

↓ 300750 -1.64%

Mega-cap · 395.3 (local)

Why: No clear catalyst — CATL likely lagged as the session’s risk appetite favored semiconductors and AI compute over EV battery names, a subtle rotation within China’s broader tech universe.

Pattern: Battery giant underperforming a chip-led rally is sector rotation, not fundamental deterioration. The modest 1.6% dip in a green market suggests profit-taking or rebalancing rather than a trend change.

Japan (TSE)

↑ 9984 +13.80%

Mega-cap · 5260 (local)

Why: SoftBank surged to limit-up on dual catalysts: Nvidia’s potential $250B backstop for OpenAI boosting the value of SoftBank’s $30B+ OpenAI stake, and Arm Holdings rallying hard on the global chip rebound.

Pattern: Explosive gap-up breakout — SoftBank acting as a leveraged AI proxy via its Arm and OpenAI holdings. The 13.8% single-day move is part of a broader momentum continuation in AI beneficiaries after the prior-week washout.

↓ 6902 -10.47%

Large-cap · 1968 (local)

Why: Denso likely dropped on earnings released July 31 that disappointed expectations, with the auto-parts maker facing headwinds from yen volatility and mixed global vehicle production outlook.

Pattern: A 10% drop on earnings day in a strongly green market is a classic negative-surprise gap-down. The move is stock-specific and counter to the Nikkei’s 4% rally — isolated fundamental event, not sector-wide.

Singapore (SGX)

↑ C6L +1.05%

Mid-cap · 7.69 (local)

Why: No clear catalyst — Singapore Airlines likely ticked higher on general risk-on sentiment and steady travel demand fundamentals, modestly outperforming the Straits Times Index’s 0.8% decline.

Pattern: Small move in a down market suggests relative strength. SIA holding green while the STI dipped points to defensive quality in the travel recovery name — not a breakout signal, just steady positioning.

↓ H78 -2.64%

Mid-cap · 8.12 (local)

Why: No clear catalyst — Hongkong Land fell as Singapore’s property-heavy index lagged the tech-led regional rally, with real estate names seeing rotation outflows into higher-beta sectors.

Pattern: Property REIT/developer underperforming a tech-dominated session is standard risk-on rotation. The 2.6% drop in a mildly red STI suggests Singapore lacked the semiconductor exposure to join the regional party.

South Korea (KOSPI)

↑ 000660 +29.95%

Large-cap · 1.718e+06 (local)

Why: SK Hynix surged to the 30% daily limit after Amazon’s earnings confirmed surging AI data center demand for HBM memory chips, triggering a massive short-squeeze following KOSPI’s 17% three-day crash.

Pattern: Textbook snap-back rally after extreme oversold conditions — the KOSPI had its worst three-day stretch in decades. SK Hynix hitting the daily limit signals forced short-covering layered onto fundamental relief from US cloud earnings.

Taiwan (TWSE)

↑ 2330 +9.98%

Mega-cap · 2425 (local)

Why: TSMC surged nearly 10% as the global semiconductor rally lifted its largest foundry customer beneficiary — strong Microsoft and Amazon cloud capex guidance directly translates to advanced node demand at TSMC.

Pattern: Momentum rebound after a sharp drawdown mirrors the KOSPI pattern. TSMC’s 10% move drove the bulk of TAIEX’s 8% gain — a single-stock index-mover effect that amplifies both the up and down swings in Taiwan’s market.

India (NSE)

↑ BAJFINANCE +9.11%

Mid-cap · 1150 (local)

Why: Bajaj Finance hit a record high after reporting Q1 net profit up 27% to ₹5,986 crore, beating estimates across all metrics — AUM grew 24% and at least five brokerages raised price targets.

Pattern: Classic earnings breakout to all-time highs on strong fundamentals. The 9% gap-up on volume with multiple analyst upgrades is a textbook institutional accumulation signal — momentum continuation likely near-term.

↓ TCS -2.76%

Mega-cap · 2365 (local)

Why: TCS fell as Indian IT services saw rotation selling — investors shifted into financials (Bajaj Finance) and away from IT outsourcers amid concerns about US enterprise spending caution flagged in DXC Technology’s earnings call.

Pattern: Sector rotation out of IT services into financials within the Indian market. TCS dropping 2.8% while Bajaj Finance gained 9% is a clean intra-market factor rotation, not a macro signal.

New Zealand (NZX)

↓ SPK -3.03%

Mid-cap · 1.92 (local)

Why: No clear catalyst — Spark New Zealand likely drifted lower on thin volume as the defensive telecom sector saw no uplift from the semiconductor-driven regional rally.

Pattern: Telco defensives lagging a risk-on tape is textbook sector rotation. The 3% drop on no news in a small, illiquid market suggests passive flow or rebalancing rather than a fundamental re-rating.

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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