Shares fall in Asia, with Kospi down 5.7%, while oil prices jump
[August 19, 2026] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares slipped Wednesday in Asia after Wall Street pulled
further from its all-time high as artificial-intelligence stocks resumed
their decline.
South Korea’s Kospi led the regional retreat, dropping 5.7% to 6,487.34.
The two biggest companies benefiting from the AI boom tracked losses for
their U.S. rivals. Samsung Electronics shed 7.5%, while memory chipmaker
SK Hynix tumbled 8.8%.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 sank 3.2% to 65,332.04 as worries over rising
bond yields coupled with selling of tech shares pulled the benchmark
lower.
The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds has been trading near a
three-decade high of over 2.9% due to expectations that the Bank of
Japan will soon raise its benchmark rate to counter inflation.
The Shanghai Composite index shed 2.2% to 3,903.61. Shares in humanoid
robot maker Unitree soared nearly 630% initially in their trading debut
on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Nasdaq-like STAR market. The company
reaped about $900 million with its initial public offering.
But shares in UBTech, another major Chinese humanoid robot maker, whose
stock is traded in Hong Kong, fell 10.6%.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost less than 0.1% to 25,460.46.
Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.7%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to
9,053.00.
Apart from renewed jitters over criticism that AI-related stocks have
shot too high, rising oil prices have been clouding market sentiment.
Crude prices have been swinging sharply due to uncertainty about when
and whether the United States and Iran can reach a deal to allow oil
tankers to exit the Persian Gulf freely again. Brent was going for
$72.87 per barrel just before the start of the war.
Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.6% to $91.57 per
barrel. U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 0.7% to $84.66 per barrel
On Tuesday, Wall Street pulled further from its all-time high. The S&P
500 fell 0.7% for a third straight modest loss. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average dipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.3%.
Stocks that have been big winners in the boom around AI technology led
the decline. They’ve been veering up and down this summer on worries
that their prices have shot too high and that the strong demand for
memory, processors and other building blocks of data centers may fizzle
if AI proves less profitable than promised.
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A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite
Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of
the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug.
19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 Micron Technology dropped 7%, and
the seller of computer memory was one of the heaviest weights on the
S&P 500. So were chip companies Nvidia, which fell 2.3%, and
Broadcom, which sank 3.2%.
Even with their recent swings, such stocks remain big winners, and
Micron has more than tripled this year.
Bond yields have been another concern. They have jumped since the
war began because high oil prices are pushing inflation higher. That
adds to worries over huge debt loads for governments, while surging
borrowing keeps yields high.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury edged down to 4.70% from
4.72% late Monday but remains well above its 3.97% level from just
before the war with Iran began. The 30-year Treasury yield also
ticked lower but is still near its highest level since 2007.
When bond yields are high, investors are less willing to pay high
prices for stocks and other kinds of investments, particularly those
seen as the most expensive.
High yields have already sent the average long-term U.S. mortgage
rate near its highest level in a year, which has hurt the housing
industry. A report on Tuesday said homebuilders broke ground on
fewer new houses last month than economists expected.
High yields could also slow borrowing by Big Tech companies to pay
for data centers, threatening a big source of growth for the U.S.
economy.
In other dealings early Wednesday, the U.S. dollar fell to 159.26
Japanese yen from 159.61 yen. The euro rose to $1.1582 from $1.1577.
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