Tech Stocks’ Rebound Stalls, Dollar Edges Higher: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — A rebound for Asian technology stocks stalled as investors turned cautious about the durability of the AI-driven rally. The dollar rose against most of its major peers.

A gauge of Asian chipmakers slipped 0.7%, with SK Hynix Inc. dropping 2.6% ahead of this week’s $29 billion US stock-market listing. South Korea’s tech-heavy Kospi index lost 1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.5%. MSCI’s broad Asia Pacific Index swung between gains and losses.

Equity-index futures for Wall Street benchmarks pared gains they made on Friday, when US markets were shut for a holiday. Contracts for the S&P 500 Index were up 0.3% and those for the Nasdaq climbed 0.8%. Futures indicated European shares were set for modest losses at the open after closing last week at a record high.

Elsewhere, Brent crude fell 0.2% to about $71.96 a barrel, easing inflation concerns and boosting Treasuries.

Markets have entered the second half of the year on a cautious footing as investors weigh the fallout from the Iran war’s energy shock and whether the stock rally driven by AI stocks can be sustained. Attention is shifting to earnings season for signs that technology companies can turn their investments on artificial intelligence sector into profits.

“The market has been volatile lately, especially around tech,” said Kazuhiro Sasaki, head of research at Phillip Securities Japan in Tokyo. “Fund managers looking to secure profits are likely to keep selling AI stocks, which have broadly outperformed, and turn to underperformers and value stocks.”

Sectors such as autos, machinery and healthcare stand to gain as investors rotate out of the AI sphere, he said. Investors are likely to maintain a cautious stance on tech stocks ahead of earnings releases major chipmakers, Sasaki said. Better-than-expected results could trigger a substantial rebound as many shares have corrected to more reasonable levels, he said.

Brent declined as shipping through the US-protected corridor in the waterway showed signs of recovering. OPEC+ members also backed another modest rise in collective quotas for next month.

Gold was little changed following a three-day gain amid speculation the Federal Reserve won’t be raising interest rates anytime soon. The yellow metal traded around $4,175 an ounce.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. revised its yen forecast to 165 per dollar in a year’s time from 155 previously. The Japanese currency traded at 161.54 per dollar in early Asian trading.

Overall though, markets remain focused on chips and technology stocks after a recent selloff.

Chipmakers remained in focus during Asian trading with Nvidia Inc.’s server assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reporting stronger-than-expected sales.

Semiconductor stocks in the US started the third quarter with their biggest two-day decline in nearly a month. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which gained a record 88% last quarter, fell 5% on Thursday. That brought its two-session decline to 12%, the most since June 5.

“Rotation from richly valued tech stocks into cyclical and defensive sectors continues to resonate with investors in US and Asia,” said Fabien Yip, a market analyst at IG International. “Sector rotation is a healthy development allowing market breadth to improve after the narrow rally between April and June.”

Corporate News:

EasyJet Plc agreed in principle to a takeover offer of more than £5 billion from Castlelake LP, which swooped in as the UK budget carrier was reeling from soaring jet fuel prices and suppressed demand after the Iran war. Nvidia Corp.’s server assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reported a bigger-than-expected 40% jump in quarterly sales and said AI demand is growing further. Samsung Electronics Co. plans to raise average third-quarter DRAM prices by about 20% from the previous three months and has verbally notified some customers, China Business News reported on Saturday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. A federal judge ordered the Pentagon to give Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. a reprieve from a law that caused all of its lobbyists to drop it as a client while she considers the constitutionality of the measure. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% as of 2:20 p.m. Tokyo time Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 0.4% Japan’s Topix rose 0.7% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.1% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.1% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% The euro was little changed at $1.1429 The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 161.95 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7912 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.7% to $63,144.29 Ether was little changed at $1,774.46 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.47% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.820% Australia’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.78% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed Spot gold fell 0.6% to $4,152.02 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Alice French and Winnie Hsu.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.