Asia-Pacific Stocks Open Lower as Wall Street Rally Pauses, South Korea Chipmakers Surge

Asia-Pacific markets opened lower, tracking Wall Street’s overnight decline, as investors digested fresh tech-driven volatility. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.4% and Topix slipped 0.9%, while South Korea’s SK Hynix surged 10% and Samsung Electronics hit record highs following OpenAI’s partnership with AMD to co-develop AI chips. The move reignited optimism in the semiconductor sector even as broader market sentiment stayed cautious ahead of key U.S. inflation data and corporate earnings later this week.