Asia Market Wrap 20 October: Kospi Drops 3.73 Percent as the AI Trade Turns Again
South Korea led Asia lower on Tuesday as the artificial-intelligence trade turned again. The Kospi dropped 3.73 percent to 5,552.74, more than unwinding its two-session rebound, with SK hynix down 4.23 percent. Hong Kong returned from its holiday 1.32 percent lower against Friday’s close, and Shanghai’s 0.12 percent rise was the only gain among the nine indices we publish. Brent crude traded 1.46 percent above Monday’s settlement at 111.15 dollars a barrel on the 10:11 GMT reading, and the expiring November WTI 3.70 percent higher at 107.50.
Seoul gives back the rebound as the chip complex sells off
Investors cashed in recent gains in the big chip names on persistent concerns over the AI value chain, Yonhap reported, with escalating protests in France further cutting the appetite for risk. The Kospi opened 0.6 percent lower and fell as far as 5,493.24 before closing at 5,552.74. Decliners beat advancers 771 to 117. The 215.27-point fall took back 1.48 points more than the two-session rebound of 213.79, leaving the index just below Thursday’s close. Foreigners sold a net 535.4 billion won and institutions a net 1 trillion, while individuals bought a net 900 billion, on the agency’s figures. Samsung Electronics fell 2.98 percent and SK hynix 4.23, toward its lowest close since April, with its parent SK Square down 5 percent. Concerns over credit risks and profitability around AI investment have yet to be resolved and limited the rebound’s sustainability, a Daishin Securities analyst said in the same report. The theme ran wider than Seoul. The market debut of the Korean AI data-centre company Elice Group opened 16 percent below its offer price and fell as much as 33 percent, and Investing.com’s regional report tied the morning’s reversal to a carried Reuters account of OpenAI accelerating its fundraising before Anthropic’s potential listing. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.30 percent to 64,075.42 on the administrator’s close, a second straight decline, with the chip suppliers Kioxia and TDK lower through the session, and Taiwan’s Taiex lost 1.13 percent. The selling came even though the Philadelphia semiconductor index had snapped its eight-session losing run in New York on Monday.
Only Shanghai rises of the nine as the PBOC holds and crude extends its squeeze
The People’s Bank of China held the one-year loan prime rate at 3.00 percent and the five-year at 3.50, read at the benchmark administrator’s page, a 17th straight month unchanged on the wire’s count after last week’s 4.5 percent growth reading. The Shanghai Composite added 0.12 percent to 3,735.37 in a third straight gain, the only rise of the nine we publish, while Shenzhen slipped 0.14 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, back from Monday’s holiday, closed 1.32 percent below Friday’s level at 23,867.74 on the administrator’s page. Sydney’s ASX 200 eased 0.33 percent, with National Australia Bank closing 1.75 percent lower after announcing restructuring charges and job cuts, and Singapore’s Straits Times slipped 0.15. Jakarta’s composite, outside our nine, rebounded from last week’s plunge of more than 11 percent tied to MSCI’s emerging-market warning, as the wire carried it. In commodities, Brent traded 1.46 percent above Monday’s settlement and the November WTI contract, in its final session before tonight’s expiry, 3.70 percent higher at 107.50 dollars, after Iran’s first vice president said the country had no choice but to exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, on the same report. The won strengthened 2.2 to 1,328.1 per dollar, per Yonhap.
Top gainers
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Composite (China) | 3,735.37 | +0.12% |
Closes of Tuesday 20 October 2026 from the price feed against Monday’s closes as published; Shanghai’s rise is its third straight and the only gain of the nine indices we publish. Run lengths are counted against our published closes.
Top losers
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Shenzhen Component (China) | 11,801.29 | -0.14% |
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 5,404.02 | -0.15% |
| S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) | 8,816.90 | -0.33% |
| Taiex (Taiwan) | 46,292.93 | -1.13% |
| Nikkei 225 (Japan) | 64,075.42 | -1.30% |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 23,867.74 | -1.32% |
| Topix (Japan) | 4,009.21 | -1.43% |
| Kospi (South Korea) | 5,552.74 | -3.73% |
Top losers, same session and basis; the Hang Seng row is measured against Friday’s close across Monday’s holiday, and India’s market was closed for Dussehra, so the Nifty has no row.
Commodities and currencies
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | 4,131.10 | -0.70% |
| Silver, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | 57.225 | -0.08% |
| Brent Crude, ICE (Dec’26), dollars a barrel | 111.15 | +1.46% |
| WTI Crude, NYMEX (Nov’26), dollars a barrel | 107.50 | +3.70% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 101.835 | -0.14% |
| Euro/Dollar | 1.1216 | +0.05% |
| Sterling/Dollar | 1.3349 | +0.35% |
| Dollar/Yen | 158.12 | -0.23% |
Intraday quotes at 10:11 GMT, in fixed order; snapshots, not settlements. The gold, silver, Brent and WTI changes are against Monday’s settlements of 4,160.10, 57.273, 109.55 and 103.66 dollars, as published in our Commodities Wrap of 19 October 2026; the November WTI contract trades its final session before expiry.
Why it matters: The selling chose the market most exposed to the memory complex and spared the one running on its own policy story, with Shanghai extending its run while the central bank sat still. Seoul’s fall says the question has moved from whether the AI names can bounce to whether anyone will fund the next leg, and a listing that opened 16 percent under its price answered for one day. Hong Kong’s first session back priced two days of the same worry at once. Crude is the other side of the risk ledger: the barrel expiring tonight rode an eighth straight settlement gain into a 3.70 percent morning. Of the nine indices we published on Tuesday, Shanghai’s 0.12 percent was the only rise and Seoul’s 3.73 the deepest fall.
Outlook: Our commodities wrap follows at midday, with the November WTI expiry and the session’s settlements in its evening update. Our Middle East wrap follows the regional closes and our Europe and US wraps the later sessions. SpaceX and Netflix report after Wall Street’s close, Meta Platforms and Tesla on Wednesday, and India’s market returns from Dussehra on Wednesday.
How these wraps are prepared: Methodology.
Sources: Nikkei Indexes, Hang Seng Indexes, National Stock Exchange of India, China Foreign Exchange Trade System, CNBC, Yonhap, Investing.com, The Edge.
