Investing.com– Most Asian stocks fell on Monday as renewed uncertainty over a possible U.S.-Iran truce pushed oil prices higher and rising global bond yields weighed on risk appetite, while chipmakers came under pressure after OpenAI suspended training of some advanced artificial intelligence models.
U.S. stock index futures also fell during Asian hours, with technology stocks falling nearly 1%. Wall Street closed higher on Friday last week.
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Oil prices continue their rise; bond yields remain high
South Korea closed down 2.7%, while Chinese blue chip stocks fell 2.2% and those fell 1.6%.
Hong Kong resisted the overall weakness, gaining about 0.6%.
Japan slipped 0.7%, while the country as a whole edged down 0.3%.
That of India fell by 1.3%.
Oil prices rose after US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, although he reportedly said talks would continue this week.
rose more than 2% to exceed $107 a barrel, extending their September gain to more than 19%.
Rising oil prices have reinforced fears that persistent energy costs could keep inflation high and force central banks to hold or raise interest rates.
stands at 5.5185%, close to its highest since 2004, while remaining above 5%.
Markets are pricing in around a 66% chance of another Federal Reserve rate hike in October, according to CME FedWatch.
Chipmakers fall after OpenAI fuels concerns about AI slowdown
Chip manufacturing stocks were hit hardest by Monday’s sales.
South Korea SK Hynix Inc () and Samsung Electronics () fell almost 5% each.
from Japan Kioxia Holdings () decreased by 3.7%.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, listed in Hong Kong (SMIC) () fell 3.4%, while Hua Hong Semiconductor () fell 4.2%.
The sale follows the announcement that OpenAI had suspended training, evaluation and inference with the use of tools for some of its highest performing models while strengthening security controls.
The development has reignited concerns that a slower pace of AI development could eventually dampen demand for advanced chips, servers and data center infrastructure.
Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore’s rose 0.5%, while Australia’s finished 0.2% higher.
Investors were awaiting the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy decision on Tuesday. Markets and economists widely expected a 25 basis point increase in the policy rate.
Investors will also face a data-rich week, including on US inflation, manufacturing and the labor market, while markets will closely monitor developments around the Strait of Hormuz and their impact on oil and interest rate expectations.
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