Overview
- South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.97% to 5,339.54 late Wednesday morning, setting up another record as battery, finance and manufacturing shares advanced while chip names softened following AI-linked tech weakness on Wall Street.
- The KOSPI had surged 6.84% on Tuesday to 5,288.08, with the Korea Exchange activating a five‑minute buy‑side circuit breaker after a prior sell‑side halt during Monday’s plunge.
- Indian equities eased after Tuesday’s trade-deal-driven jump, with early Wednesday trade showing the Nifty IT index down more than 5% as investors took profits and software majors such as Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra fell.
- Foreign portfolio investors turned net buyers by Rs 5,236.28 crore on Tuesday following confirmation of an India–US trade framework that cuts U.S. tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50%.
- Pakistan’s KSE‑100 crossed 188,000 intraday on Wednesday, up roughly 0.6%, as reports of Iran–US talks bolstered risk appetite after the index rose 1% on Tuesday.