Asian stocks slide as SoftBank, SK Hynix extend chip rout

Japanese and South Korean equities reversed early gains on Friday as memory chip stocks extended a weeks-long rout that has wiped hundreds of billions of dollars from semiconductor valuations across Asia. The KOSPI opened more than 1% higher before sellers took control, while Japan's Nikkei 225 followed the same pattern, opening above Thursday's close then sliding into negative territory.

Chip Giants Drag Indexes Lower

SoftBank Group, a major Nikkei 225 constituent and AI-investment proxy through its stake in Arm, fell as much as 5.67% during Friday's session. SK Hynix ↘ 5.04% plunged 4.82% to 1,423,000 won, leading KOSPI decliners. Japanese flash-memory maker Kioxia dropped 2.03% to 47,750 yen. Samsung Electronics bucked the trend, rising modestly.cryptorank+1

The KOSPI fell as low as 6,221.60, down 1.19% from Thursday's close, after touching an intraday high of 6,415.60. The Nikkei slipped 0.75% to 65,193.16, with its session range spanning from 64,651.49 to 65,990.72.cryptorank

Analyst Downgrades Fuel Negative Sentiment

The selloff extends a repricing of memory-chip stocks that began in late July, when Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ↗ 0.45% raised doubts about the sustainability of high-bandwidth memory pricing. CNBC reported that SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron ↘ 1.27% together lost $462 billion in market value during the late-July rout alone.valueaddvc+1

This week, Citigroup ↗ 0.70% and Jefferies ↗ 0.55% cut price targets on memory stocks after SanDisk Western Digital Corporation ↘ 4.19% issued conservative guidance despite beating quarterly estimates. Goldman Sachs warned that fully priced valuations leave chipmakers vulnerable to sharp drops even when headline earnings are strong.tradingkey+1

Weak Wall Street Adds Pressure

Overnight losses on Wall Street compounded the selling pressure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a five-session winning streak with a 0.85% decline on Thursday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.18% and the Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.06%. JJ Kinahan, head of retail expansion at Cboe ↘ 0.54%, told CNBC that "better-than-expected profits and sales don't always pump stock prices when coupled with soft guidance".irishsun

U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ending August 1 came in at 199,000, slightly below forecasts, pointing to continued labor market resilience. Whether Asian benchmarks stabilize may hinge on upcoming memory chip earnings and progress in U.S.-Iran talks over the Strait of Hormuz.tradingkey+1