World shares mostly decline with South Korea's Kospi down 6.4%, while
oil prices slip
[July 16, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — World shares mostly declined Thursday and oil prices
slipped despite a flurry of strikes between the U.S. and Iran.
U.S. futures edged lower, while selling of AI-related shares weighed on
benchmarks in South Korea and Japan.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.4% to 10,475.27.
France's CAC 40 also fell 0.4%, to 8,348.82. Germany's DAX shed 0.3% to
24,926.60.
In South Korea, Seoul's Kospi index sank 6.4% to 6,820.60. An interest
rate hike by the Bank of Korea also contributed its tumble. It was the
first rate hike by the BOK since 2023 and was aimed at helping curb
inflationary pressures due to the Iran war.
Memory chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 11.5%, while Samsung Electronics fell
8.8%.
Taiwan's Taiex ended nearly unchanged. Taiwan computer chipmaker TSMC
gained 1.2% ahead of its earnings report. After the market closed, TSMC,
often seen as a barometer for the global industry and for the boom in
artificial intelligence, announced an additional $100 billion in
investments in U.S. computer chipmaking capacity, along with record
earnings in the last quarter and higher revenue growth forecasts.
In Amsterdam, Dutch chip machine maker ASML’s shares rose 0.9% early
Thursday following TSMC’s stronger-than-expected results.
In other Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.8% to 66,835.54.
Shares of Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia skidded 15%. Chipmaking
equipment company Tokyo Electron dropped 4.5%, while chip testing
equipment maker Advantest gave up 5.9%.
SoftBank Group shed 6.3%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was a regional outlier, gaining 1.3% to 25,008.60.
Technology giant Alibaba’s Hong Kong-traded shares climbed 3.1%, after
China’s cyberspace regulator said Wednesday it had approved the Apple
Intelligence AI tool for use in China. An Alibaba spokesperson said its
Qwen model will be integrated into Apple Intelligence.
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Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room
of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, July
16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 The Shanghai Composite index dropped
1.9% to 3,882.41.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed flat at 8,840.70, while India’s
Sensex picked up 0.2%.
Oil prices meandered, remaining at elevated levels as the U.S.
intensified its strikes against Iran, while Iran targeted missile
and drone fire on Kuwait and Bahrain.
Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 0.3% to $84.68 a
barrel. It was trading near $72 per barrel in late February before
the war began.
Benchmark U.S. crude slipped less than 0.1% to $79.57 per barrel.
On Wednesday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Dow
climbed 0.3%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.6%.
A U.S. report showing inflation slowed in June and strong earnings
results from American investment company BlackRock among other major
firms also helped push the market higher. BlackRock's shares rose
6.6% after it reported stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue and
profit.
In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar fell to 162.14
Japanese yen from 162.19 yen. The euro rose to $1.1467 from $1.1464.
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