Photo: Joon Kyu Park / Wikimedia Commons (archive)

Asian stocks fell Tuesday as Wall Street’s technology selloff followed the region into Election Day in the United States, while a 7 percent crash in oil prices offered relief to Asia’s energy-importing economies. Tokyo’s market was closed for Culture Day, a national holiday.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 186.89 points, or 3.19 percent, at 5,672.19 at 9:06 a.m. Korean time Tuesday, Hankyung reported, as chip stocks extended their slide on doubts that heavy spending on artificial intelligence will pay off.

The drop followed a split session in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 percent to 51,983.98 and eight of the S&P 500’s eleven sectors gained, but the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1 percent to 25,164.32, its third straight decline, and the S&P 500 slipped 0.5 percent to 7,541.40. Intel tumbled another 8.8 percent to close below $60, stretching its two-day loss to about 35 percent.

After the closing bell, Apple reported record September-quarter revenue of $114.5 billion, up 12 percent, with iPhone sales up 17 percent, but forecast holiday-quarter growth of 7 to 10 percent and lower gross margins, citing rising memory-chip costs; the shares slipped in extended trading. Palantir said revenue rose 96 percent to $2.31 billion and raised its full-year outlook. Both reports test whether investors will keep paying for AI growth or keep punishing its cost.

Oil gave the region its brighter news. U.S. crude settled down 7.4 percent at $96.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and Brent settled at $104.77. Early Tuesday in Asia, U.S. crude traded near $95.50, as diplomacy between Washington and Tehran kept deflating the conflict premium that pushed oil above $100 last week.

China delivered two conflicting readings on its factories. The private RatingDog manufacturing survey was 52.0 in October, with output growing at its fastest pace in six months, while the official gauge released over the weekend fell to 49.3, into contraction. The Shanghai Composite rose 1.1 percent Monday, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.4 percent to close at 23,393.32; both markets reopen half an hour after this report is published.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was closed for the holiday after slipping 0.3 percent Monday to 63,081.86, according to index data. Trading resumes Wednesday.

For households, the oil drop is the number that matters most: cheaper crude usually means lower gasoline prices within a few weeks. The chip-stock slide can dent retirement and college savings accounts, especially funds heavy in technology. And Tuesday’s midterm elections decide which party controls Congress, which shapes the tax and spending policy that reaches family budgets.

Election results begin coming in after polls close Tuesday evening in the United States. Later in the week come Berkshire Hathaway’s results and Friday’s October jobs report.

JBizNews Desk | New York
© JBizNews.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited.