Asia’s Stock Rebound Falters as Tech Losses Resume: Markets Wrap

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June 24, 2026 - 05:50

8 minutes

(Bloomberg) — A tentative rebound in Asian equities following Tuesday’s global tech-led rout failed to hold as a fresh bout of selling hit the sector.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was down 0.7% after rising nearly 1% earlier. Shares of bellwether chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which accounts for more than 10% of the regional gauge, lost over 3% after having largely weathered the broader rout in the last session. South Korea’s Kospi Index pared early gains, though Samsung Electronics Co.’s stock found support from a report that the firm may announce a buyback. US equity futures edged higher.The volatile backdrop has sharpened the focus on memory chipmaker Micron Technology Inc.’s results Wednesday, which may provide crucial cues on whether demand for AI infrastructure remains strong enough to sustain this year’s rally in the sector. Veteran strategist Louis Navellier said the report will be the grand finale to a “stunning” earnings season.“The AI bubble is by far the biggest stock-market bubble that mankind has ever seen — both in scale and scope, in terms of the leverage that’s in there and in terms of the sheer excessive exuberance that’s driven valuations,” Paul Gambles, managing partner at MBMG Group, said on Bloomberg TV. “But, we don’t think the markets have actually thrown in the towel yet. It’s got a lot lot further to go down before it gets to chip-wreck.”Micron’s stock dropped 13% on Tuesday but is still up more than 250% in 2026. Shares of Cerebras Systems Inc. also slid about 11% in late US trading after the newly public chipmaker gave an annual sales forecast that disappointed investors looking for the company to take a bigger slice of the AI data center market.The moves point to renewed concerns that the AI-driven rally may have run too far, too fast. The Asian benchmark slumped 3.6% on Tuesday, the most since early March, while the Kospi tumbled 10%. The selloff spread to US markets, with the Nasdaq 100 plunging 3.3% and the S&P 500 losing 1.4%. A closely watched semiconductor gauge — which had more than doubled from its war-driven lows — lost about 8%.Worries over whether the massive spending commitments by technology firms will generate sufficient returns, coupled with elevated valuations and crowded positioning, have triggered sharp pullbacks in AI-linked stocks from time to time. Even so, equity markets look set to close out the first half of 2026 with some blockbuster gains. Up about 13% since the end of March, the MSCI All Country World Index is on course for its best quarter since the period ended Dec. 31, 2020.‘Volatility Amplifiers’For the Kospi, Tuesday’s rout was one of its steepest in history as a turnaround in investor sentiment toward the chips sector sparked a rapid unwind of leveraged positions in the world’s best-performing equity market.“Volatility amplifiers like outflows from levered products probably went into over-drive and became quickly exhausted yesterday, paving the way for today’s rebound in South Korea. But the same is not true for Taiwan, which, in hindsight, was relatively calm in yesterday’s session despite having the same sensitivity to global tech hardware narratives,” said Homin Lee, strategist at Lombard Odier in Singapore.Elsewhere in markets, Brent slipped over 1% to approach $76 a barrel as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz became more visible following an interim peace agreement between the US and Iran. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%, set for a third straight day of gains.Gold fell for a second day, under pressure from a stronger dollar and the tech-led selloff in equities that prompted investors to cut bullion holdings and cover losses elsewhere.Indonesian stocks were down 1% after MSCI Inc. again delayed its review of the nation’s equity market, saying it needs more time to assess whether recently announced transparency reforms are working. MSCI had in January warned of a possible downgrade to frontier status due to investability concerns.The New York-based index provider also retained South Korea in its emerging-markets basket.In fixed income, Treasuries advanced on Tuesday as the equity selloff and falling oil prices were seen as easing pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to contain inflation. Yields fell roughly one to three basis points, led by shorter maturities that are most sensitive to changes in Fed policy. The two-year yield dropped around three basis points to about 4.20%.An auction of two-year Treasury notes drew strong demand about a week after Kevin Warsh’s first press conference as Fed chair spurred a sharp increase in yields as traders priced in more tightening in response to rising inflation. Focus now turns to this week’s personal spending data for more cues.Warsh’s commitment to lowering inflation bolsters the Fed’s credibility, supporting long-dated Treasury yields and a lower term-premium, according to Citadel Securities.Trading in the $31 trillion US Treasury market since last week’s Fed meeting has been defined by relatively more stable long-dated yields versus the policy sensitive two-year sector, and “a hyper-credible Fed should be good for long end rates,” as per Nohshad Shah, the firm’s head of EMEA fixed-income sales.Corporate Highlights:SoftBank Group Corp.’s Masayoshi Son said he plans to hold onto the top spot at the technology group he founded for another decade or more, shredding his long-held plan to hand over the reins in his sixties. Chinese artificial-intelligence model maker Zhipu is considering a share sale to raise several billion US dollars in Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said, after soaring 2,000% since its listing in January. FedEx Corp. posted quarterly earnings that topped Wall Street expectations and said profit would grow this year, a boost for the courier’s effort to simplify its business. SpaceX has drawn about $89 billion of demand for its debut US bond sale, according to people with knowledge of the matter, setting the stage for one of the biggest deals in the investment-grade market this year. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. equity traders are on the cusp of setting another record in the second quarter, with that business on track to generate more than $5 billion of revenue, according to people familiar with the matter. Apollo Global Management Inc. is once again limiting withdrawal requests from its largest non-traded private credit fund for retail investors, as broader concerns about the asset class persist. Some of the main moves on markets:StocksS&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 12:49 p.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix fell 0.7% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed The Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.2% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1367 The Japanese yen was little changed at 161.56 per dollar The offshore yuan fell 0.1% to 6.8020 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 0.5% to $62,726.36 Ether rose 0.3% to $1,667.24 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.48% Japan’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 2.660% Australia’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.76% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.1% to $72.42 a barrel Spot gold fell 1.3% to $4,064.38 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.–With assistance from Charlotte Yang, Shery Ahn and Carmeli Argana.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.