And Korea's market was closed on Friday. It's a pretty big deal.
From Reuters, July 17:
Asian markets slid sharply on Friday, with equity benchmarks in Japan and Taiwan falling as much as 6%, as a global rout in technology stocks accelerated.Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gauge confirmed correction territory, down more than 10% since its all-time high close on June 25.TAKAMASA IKEDA, SENIOR PORTFOLIO MANAGER, GCI ASSET MANAGEMENT, TOKYO:
"The Nikkei is highly correlated with the SOX index. The pace of the SOX's gain was unsustainable, and there's been a correction in it. A correction was anticipated, but it is happening earlier than market expectations."
"The market has become wary of whether hyperscalers can make returns that justify their massive investments. And these investments are funded by highly leveraged loans from banks and private lenders."
CHRISTOPHER FORBES, HEAD OF ASIA AND MIDDLE EAST, CMC MARKETS, SINGAPORE:
"They were good (tech) earnings. But it just shows how much was baked into the price. SpaceX is a pretty good proxy for market sentiment right now, and it's below the IPO price.""I'm still not seeing any panic — people are buying gold and silver and those have been losing trades.""But the reality is that the world is watching yields go higher...hence the market is selling off."
JOHAN JAVEUS, SENIOR ECONOMIST, SEB, STOCKHOLM:
"Probably a combination of factors where the selloff is partly driven by profit-taking on many AI stocks, coupled with the recurring doubts of an AI investment bubble. The fact that the SpaceX IPO has done so poorly makes many investors extra nervous."
KEI OKAMURA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, NEUBERGER BERMAN, TOKYO
"I think the Fed was likely a trigger. Kevin Warsh and his comments and changing views towards what appears to be quite hawkish Fed policy started a cascading effect towards taking chips off the table.""We started to get a lot more momentum in terms of the selling pressure, first off with the very high profile names like SK Hynix and Samsung, but from there it has kind of spread.""So the Nikkei is trending as bad, if not a little bit worse. The word 'bloodbath' is accurate because it is across the board."
FABIEN YIP, MARKET ANALYST, IG, SYDNEY:"I think the focus now from investors is about the sustainability, not just whether the growth numbers will go up... but more about whether these numbers are achievable while still maintaining certain healthiness in the balance sheet.""Retail investors have borrowed to trade in this really impressive AI rally, so I think the unwinding of leveraged positions will definitely exaggerate the decline as well.""If tonight, the selloff continues into the U.S. session, I think Korea, when it reopens, is going to be quite disastrous."....
....MUCH MORE
