Good morning and welcome to Markets Desk, your Monday open across global markets.
Asian equities are taking a beating to start the week, with regional benchmarks broadly lower following Friday's Wall Street selloff. Technology names are leading the damage, with SoftBank off more than seven percent as investors reassess stretched valuations on AI-linked stocks after Broadcom's sharp overnight decline dragged the Nasdaq lower.
Nowhere is that tension sharper than in Seoul, where the Kospi plunged more than eight percent at Monday's open. The paradox here is striking — Korean equities have been among the world's best performers this year, yet foreign investors have been consistent net sellers throughout that rally, unwilling to hold exposure as global risk appetite deteriorates and tech sentiment curdles.
Meanwhile, Indian markets are bracing for their own rough open, caught between weak global cues and genuine domestic crosscurrents. Investors are weighing escalating Middle East tensions and inflation concerns against surprisingly strong GDP data and a government move to eliminate the twelve-and-a-half percent long-term capital gains tax on foreign investors — a meaningful policy signal, though perhaps not enough to hold the line today.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
