Asian Markets Slide Amid Tech, Oil Concerns

Asian stocks fell broadly on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, as investors pulled back from AI-related shares ahead of U.S. earnings. South Korea's Kospi led with a 6% drop in Business Standard's account or 5.24% in NewsBytes', hit by losses in chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Japan's Nikkei fell 2.6% or 2.34% after a holiday, and Taiwan's TAIEX slipped 1.22%. Business Standard said MSCI's Asia-Pacific index outside Japan fell 2% in early trading; NewsBytes put the MSCI Asia Pacific Index down 0.9%, its weakest close since mid-August. The Nasdaq had fallen 0.5% overnight on chipmakers. Brent crude stood at $105.9 a barrel, near a two-week high per Business Standard and just below it per Shafaqna, while NewsBytes said oil prices dipped slightly. Charu Chanana of Saxo said markets are rediscovering that geopolitics matters most when it feeds back into inflation, with oil keeping pressure on yields and growth stocks. Kyle Rodda of Capital.com linked the session to the Wall Street chip selloff bleeding into Asia plus oil and positioning ahead of inflation data and earnings. The U.S. dollar was near an 18-month high. Anthony Saglimbene of Ameriprise said Q3 earnings start with stocks near record highs and little room for disappointment. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Wells Fargo were set to report later that day.