World shares are mixed after a Big Tech sell-off
[June 24, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — World shares were mixed Wednesday following a sell-off
in big technology stocks from Asia to Wall Street.
U.S. stock futures were also trading mixed, as global investors monitor
market movements including in Japan and South Korea, which have seen big
gains in recent months on the global AI boom but both fell sharply on
Tuesday.
In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 edged down 0.1% to
10,417.97. Germany's DAX fell 0.8% to 24,687.18, while France's CAC 40
was 0.2% higher at 8,355.36.
In Asia, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index was up 3.3% to 8,471.02,
recovering from its 10% decline on Tuesday. Shares of memory chipmaker
SK Hynix, one of the country's most valuable stocks, climbed 1%. Samsung
Electronics jumped 9.8%, after Tuesday’s 12.3% plummet.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.9% to 69,174.97 after falling 3.6% on Tuesday.
Taiwan’s Taiex, which is also heavily influenced by tech shares, fell
2.2%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 0.3% higher at 23,412.18. The Shanghai
Composite index was up 0.1% to 4,110.81. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged
up 0.2% to 8,808.40.
The declines in Asian markets, including Japan's, followed Tuesday's
1.4% drop for Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index. The
technology-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 2.2%, while the Dow Jones
Industrial Average ended 0.1% lower.
Big Tech and semiconductor stocks fell in the U.S. On Tuesday, Micron
Technology sank 13.2%, while Nvidia lost more than 4.1%.
The big falls in tech shares were an “illustration of rising volatility”
in these stocks, said James Reilly, senior markets economist at Capital
Economics. “This is particularly true in Korea where domestic retail
buyers are taking on an increasing role,” he said.
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A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea
Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate
between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange
dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea,
Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 Oil prices fell early Wednesday, as
more ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz while U.S.-Iran talks on a
permanent end to the Iran war made progress.
“Price movements suggest the market expects a fairly rapid recovery
in Persian Gulf oil supplies,” ING commodities strategists Warren
Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a commentary.
Still, while vessel crossings in the strait increased in recent
days, they remained well below prewar levels, they noted.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 1.6% to $75.57 a
barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still
elevated compared with the approximately $70 per barrel in late
February before the war began.
Benchmark U.S. crude was down 1.8% to $71.92 a barrel.
In the U.S., investors are awaiting a report due Thursday of May’s
personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, which is the
preferred inflation gauge by the Federal Reserve.
Some economists predict the Fed may hold key interest rate this year
but is unlikely to raise rates. Bond yields have remained higher as
inflation concerns grew amid global energy shocks.
In other dealings, the U.S. dollar was trading at 161.74 Japanese
yen, up from 161.55 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1347, down from
$1.1382.
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