World shares skid as traders sell to lock in profits after recent
rallies driven by AI
[June 26, 2026] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — World shares retreated Friday, led by heavy losses in
Japan and South Korea as traders sold to lock in gains from recent
rallies in stocks related to artificial intelligence.
In early European trading, Germany's DAX gave up 0.8% to 24,793.58,
while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.4% to 8,398.14. Britain's FTSE 100 shed
0.4% to 10,490.62.
The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.2% while that for the Dow Jones
Industrial Average edged 0.2% higher.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index shed 4.2% to 69,360.88 and the Kospi
in Seoul plunged 5.8% to 8,411.21. Both recovered some ground lost
earlier in the day.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.8% to 22,667.13, while the Shanghai
Composite index slipped 2.3% to 4,027.26.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was an outlier, gaining 0.2% to 8,764.20.
Taiwan's Taiex gave up 3.6%.
The wide swings in Tokyo and Seoul are typical of recent volatility in
markets as investors react to the deluge of dollars heading into AI data
centers and other investments. Shares in Japan and South Korea hit
records this week and logged strong gains on Thursday after chipmakers
Qualcomm and Micron Technology reported better than expected earnings.
In South Korea, market trends have been dominated by movements in stock
in Samsung Electronics, the country's biggest company, and chipmaker SK
Hynix, which like Samsung is collaborating with Nvidia on artificial
intelligence.
Given that concentration, “a strong Micron print can produce a powerful
upside chase one day; a new concern around memory costs, capex, or the
durability of AI demand can reverse it violently the next,” Stephen
Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Samsung's shares lost 5.3% on Friday, while those of SK Hynix fell 8.4%.
In Tokyo trading, technology giant SoftBank Group Corp. lost 12.5% and
computer chip testing equipment maker Advantest sank 3.2%.
On Thursday, the U.S. stock market drifted to a mixed finish after
several AI stocks veered back up the roller coaster, while Apple shares
dropped 6.1% after the company hiked prices on many of its products.
The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged with a dip of less than 0.1% after
swinging between gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 71 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite
fell 0.5%.
[to top of second column] |
A currency trader passes by 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, Friday, June 26,
2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 Micron Technology helped lead the
market after jumping 15.7%. The maker of computer memory reported
much bigger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts
expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast for the current
quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped allay worries a bit
that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day
with a surge of 267% so far this year.
Micron and AI stocks broadly have been under intermittent pressure
recently because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep
pace with the tremendous rallies for their stock prices. Beyond
Micron, Qualcomm said late Wednesday that the acceleration of the AI
era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own growth in
upcoming years.
SpaceX, meanwhile, fell 1% to drop below $153 for its lowest finish
since its vaunted debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month.
While the AI boom regularly roils tech shares, other sectors have
held relatively steady, noted Thomas Mathews of Capital Economics.
“Even if the AI boom turned into a bust the ‘non-tech’ parts of the
stock market could conceivably shrug it off for a while, as they
have this week,” he wrote in a report.
A report released Thursday showed U.S. inflation is behaving pretty
much as economists expected, climbing to 4.1% last month from 3.8%
in April. The hope is that it will ease because of a drop-off in oil
prices.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international
standard, declined 2.3% to $73.77 per barrel early Friday. It has
fallen from its highs above $100 caused by the closure of the Strait
of Hormuz because of the Iran war, which slowed the global flow of
oil.
U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 2.4% to $70.17.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 161.65 Japanese yen
from 161.80 yen. The euro rose to $1.1387 from $1.1371.
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