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Asian stocks opened November on the back foot Monday, after a brutal end to the week on Wall Street, where a 29 percent plunge in Intel shares dragged down chipmakers worldwide and knocked the Nasdaq Composite to its steepest one-month decline since March 2025.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.8 percent to 62,803.68 in early trading before recovering to 63,276.40, down 0.02 percent, at 10:33 a.m. in Tokyo, according to the index’s official data, extending Friday’s 2.1 percent drop. South Korea’s Kospi opened down 1.6 percent at 5,637.77, after sinking 3.5 percent on Friday.
The selling began in New York on Friday. Intel plunged 29 percent, the worst performer on the S&P 500, after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, below Wall Street expectations, in its third-quarter report. The losses spread across the chip sector: Advanced Micro Devices and Marvell Technology each fell more than 10 percent, Broadcom and Micron Technology each lost more than 5 percent, Nvidia fell 4.2 percent, and a widely followed semiconductor fund dropped more than 8 percent. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.9 percent to 25,437, capping a 5.3 percent loss for October, its steepest one-month decline since March 2025. The S&P 500 lost 1.8 percent to close at 7,580.07, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1 percent to 51,770.31. Amazon shares slipped 1.4 percent after the company reported a decline in free cash flow as it spends heavily on artificial intelligence.
In Tokyo, attention was on the Bank of Japan, which on Friday held its benchmark interest rate at 1.25 percent in an 8-to-1 vote, according to its policy statement. The lone dissenter, board member Hajime Takata, argued for a hike to 1.5 percent, saying underlying inflation has reached the bank’s 2 percent target. The bank also voted unanimously to step up sales of its exchange-traded fund holdings, raising the pace to about 860 billion yen a year starting in January 2027, roughly triple the current rate.
In China, factory activity slipped back into contraction as the fourth quarter began. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.3 in October from 50.1 in September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, with production and new orders both below the 50 line that separates growth from contraction. The Shanghai Composite fell 2.2 percent Friday to 3,599.02, and Shenzhen’s benchmark sank 5.6 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index bucked the regional slide Friday, rising 0.9 percent to 23,294.42. Mainland and Hong Kong markets opened at 9:30 a.m. local time.
Oil prices pulled back in early Asian trading after jumping on Friday. U.S. crude for December delivery fell about 2.2 percent to $101.86 a barrel in delayed New York futures data marked 8:22 p.m. Eastern, after climbing 2.4 percent to top $104 on Friday, as traders tracked diplomatic efforts to end the conflict with Iran. Brent crude for January delivery fell about 2 percent to $111.12 a barrel in ICE data marked 8:29 p.m. Eastern. Gold fell more than 3 percent Friday to its lowest level in about a year.
The dollar was little changed at about 157.7 yen. Bitcoin traded below $77,000, down from a Thursday high near $82,000, after the crypto exchange Binance said its hot wallets were compromised in a roughly $6.3 billion theft. The company said withdrawals had resumed for all 15 networks and assets in the initial phase by 7:36 a.m. Eastern Sunday, while testing continued on the remaining networks and assets. Binance has said it will cover all stolen funds so that users are not hurt.
For households, the connection is straightforward. Cheaper oil can ease pressure on prices at the gas pump over time, though the effect is not immediate or guaranteed. Big drops in technology stocks show up in retirement and college savings accounts, especially in funds that lean heavily on chipmakers and other tech names. And in Japan, the central bank’s decision to hold its rate keeps borrowing costs steady for now, even as one of its own board members argued that inflation has hit the bank’s target.
Later Monday brings a private survey of China’s factories. The Bank of Japan releases the full text of its quarterly outlook in the afternoon in Tokyo, and Tuesday brings the U.S. midterm elections.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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