Seoul Stocks Slide 5.4% as Asia Follows Wall Street Tech Selloff

Asian markets fell sharply in early trading after heavy losses in U.S. technology shares overnight. Seoul's Kospi dropped 5.4%, while Tokyo's Nikkei fell 1.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.3%, and Shanghai declined 0.4%. The moves came as oil prices were relatively stable and investors waited for updates from U.S.-Iran talks.

South Korean chipmakers led the rout, with SK Hynix down 7% and Samsung down 6.4%. Hanmi Semiconductor, a supplier to the chip industry, fell 8.6%. Hyundai also slumped 9.2%, making it the worst performer in the Kospi.

Elsewhere in Asia, SoftBank dropped 7.8% in Tokyo after its subsidiary Arm fell 7.2% on Wall Street the previous day. Furukawa Electric sank 9.7% at the bottom of the Nikkei. In Hong Kong, JD.com lost 4.8% and Xiaomi weakened 4%.

The selloff followed a mixed session in New York, where the Nasdaq fell 1.3%, the S&P 500 declined 0.4%, and the Dow Jones rose 0.3%.