BENGALURU: South Korean shares lost more than 1% on Thursday to mark their worst day in more than two weeks after US chipmaker Micron’s forecast for the current quarter disappointed investors, while the market was waiting for a rate decision in the Philippines.
Currencies in the region were largely subdued, with the Indonesian rupiah and the Malaysian ringgit slightly lower, as the dollar lingered near a two-month high ahead of key inflation data due later in the week.
A strong print would push back interest rate cut expectations, supporting the dollar and pressuring emerging market assets.
Stocks in Taiwan, which soared last week in tandem with their US peers riding on the Nvidia wave, fell as much as 1%, with chipmaking giant TSMC down more than 1%.
Equities in Seoul dropped 1.1% for the worst intraday fall since June 10, as investors assessed the outlook for semiconductor demand from artificial intelligence technologies after Micron’s outlook update raised concerns.
SK Hynix, a Micron rival and Nvidia supplier, fell near 1.1%.
South Korea also said it would extend dollar-won onshore market’s trading hours from Monday to enhance foreign investor access and support the inclusion of government bonds in a major global index.
In the Philippines, investors await a monetary policy decision from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged, according to a Reuters poll.
