What Is Driving the Market?

English summary

#Trading Desk# Asian stock markets closed mixed. Risk appetite warmed in early trading, then sentiment faded. The Korean market saw a sharp reversal; the KOSPI was boosted by strong semiconductor earnings from Samsung Electronics but closed lower, declining for a third consecutive day. The market continues to weigh resilient AI-related earnings against macroeconomic challenges: hawkish Fed signals, US-Iran tensions, and technical pressure left over from the July selloff. Japanese stocks outperformed, with Advantest surging after raising AI-related earnings guidance and Hitachi rising on strong results; however, banks weighed on the TOPIX. Australian stocks fell, with materials and consumer stocks weak. Hong Kong stocks edged higher, as gains in New Oriental Education and Budweiser APAC offset continued pressure on tech and semiconductor stocks. ******** Taiwan stocks slipped slightly but outperformed Korea. Indian stocks rose modestly, with the IT sector extending gains to a fifth consecutive session as short covering continued. ...