Slowing AI development coupled with soaring oil prices has hit Japanese and South Korean chip stocks hardest, with SK Hynix falling over 5% and SoftBank plummeting 11%.

Slowing AI development coupled with soaring oil prices has hit Japanese and South Korean chip stocks hardest, with SK Hynix falling over 5% and SoftBank plummeting 11%.

AI giants have joined forces to call for a slowdown in the development of cutting-edge models, and soaring oil prices have reignited inflation concerns, putting pressure on Asian stocks at the open on Monday.

South Korea's KOSPI index fell more than 3%, SK Hynix fell more than 5%, and Samsung Electronics fell more than 3%. South Korean and Japanese chip stocks, which are the "shovel and spade" of the AI boom, were the first to be hit.

The Nikkei 225 index opened 0.6% lower, and the decline later widened to 2%, while SoftBank's stock price plummeted 11%.

Meanwhile, Brent crude oil rose more than 3% to $107.99 a barrel. The news that Saudi Arabia had shut down a key oil pipeline and that Oman had postponed its meeting with Iran and other countries on the 14th caused a sudden surge in the energy market, further exacerbating market concerns about the inflation outlook.

Nasdaq 100 futures fell more than 1%, and S&P 500 futures fell 0.6%. The market faces multiple challenges this week: the Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday, with the swap market currently pricing in a greater than 90% probability of a rate hike; the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan will also release their policy decisions. These three central bank decisions could reshape the global monetary policy landscape for the remainder of 2026 and beyond.

AI giants join forces to call for a slowdown, putting pressure on chip stocks.

On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei announced that the company will introduce additional security measures, such as independent third-party evaluations, and called on the entire industry to proactively slow down the development of state-of-the-art models. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman immediately endorsed the move, and Elon Musk of xAI also stated, "Dario is right."

The rare consensus among three leading AI institutions has raised concerns in the market about this core sector driving this year's stock market rally. Nick Twidale, chief market analyst at AT Global Markets in Sydney, said, " This week could start quite volatile as investors assess the impact of major strategic shifts at top AI companies on valuations. Large Asian tech companies that provide supply chain support to these major AI companies are expected to be the first to be affected. "

However, some market participants believe the impact is largely driven by sentiment. Kerry Craig, Global Market Strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, stated, "Until the necessity of a development slowdown truly translates into a downward revision of capital expenditure guidance or a delay in model releases, this is more likely to be a sentiment-driven factor than a valuation or earnings-driven one. "

In corporate news, sources familiar with the matter revealed that Anthropic has selected Nasdaq as the listing venue for its potential record-breaking IPO. Sam Altman, however, stated that OpenAI will not proceed with its IPO plans this year, citing the company's current focus on addressing AI security-related issues.

Soaring oil prices reignite inflation concerns and fuel expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike.

Unexpected changes in the energy market exacerbated the already difficult situation. Saudi Arabia shut down a key oil pipeline following a drone attack, and a scheduled meeting between Iran and Gulf states was postponed. Brent crude rose 2.8% to $107.55 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.5% to $102.51 a barrel, bringing oil prices back above $100.

The surge in oil prices coincided with the release of US inflation data last Friday. Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that in August, the core CPI, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3% month-over-month and 2.4% year-over-year; the overall CPI rose 0.4% month-over-month and 3.4% year-over-year, both exceeding expectations.

Inflation data pushed U.S. Treasury yields higher, with the two-year Treasury yield rising 4 basis points on Friday and the 10-year yield approaching the key 5% level, currently at 4.95%. Swap market pricing indicates that the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike on Wednesday has exceeded 90%.

Martin Whetton, head of financial markets strategy at Westpac Banking Corp., said, "The expectation of a rate hike at the September FOMC meeting is very clear, with a 90% pricing probability. Following Friday's CPI data release, US Treasury yields generally rose, and this will continue to dominate the Asian fixed-income market today."

Analysts point out that the return of oil prices to above $100 and the renewed escalation of tensions in the Middle East are making it difficult to ease global inflationary pressures, and the breathing space that policymakers are hoping for is becoming increasingly slim. This will also keep borrowing costs high for a longer period of time.

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