Asia Market Quick Take – 15 September 2026

Key points:

• Macro: AI slowdown call rattles risk sentiment globally
• Equities: CrowdStrike +13.8% after AI security boost while BOFA –5% on profit warning
• FX: Dollar climbs as yields breach 5%, Brent nears $110; USDCAD extends gains
• Commodities: Oil remains elevated while precious metal under pressure
• Fixed income: US 10-year breaches 5% for first time since 2023

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Disclaimer: Past performance does not indicate future performance.

Macro:

• AI slowdown call: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a weekend essay urging the AI industry to slow the pace of frontier model development for safety reasons, a view echoed by OpenAI's Sam Altman and Elon Musk. The call rattled risk sentiment globally, triggering a broad selloff in chip and AI-linked equities.
• Fed rate hike imminent: Markets are pricing in a ~92% probability of a 25bp Fed rate hike at the FOMC meeting on Wednesday (Sept. 15–16), which would lift the federal funds target range to 3.75%–4.00%. Goldman Sachs and HSBC both revised their calls to include a September hike following last week's hotter-than-expected August CPI print (core CPI +0.3% m/m).
• Oil surge on Middle East escalation: Brent crude topped $105–$108 intraday on Monday after Yemen's Houthis launched a large-scale ballistic missile and drone attack on Saudi Arabia's King Khalid Air Base. Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, shut last week following drone attacks from Iraq, remains a key supply risk. Trump later posted that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt strikes on energy targets, which helped oil ease from session highs.
• Trump-Xi summit: A Trump-Xi meeting is expected around September 24. Goldman Sachs survey data suggests most investors view the summit as "largely symbolic," with limited expectations for material deliverables on trade or currency.

Equities: 

• US — US equities closed lower on Monday as AI slowdown fears hammered chipmakers and elevated oil prices stoked inflation concerns. S&P 500 fell 0.5% to 7,619.98, the Dow Jones dropped 0.3% to 52,421.20, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.6% to 26,186.41. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled 5.9%, its biggest drop in over two months. Nvidia fell 3.4%, Broadcom, Intel (-5.6%), AMD (-4.4%), Marvell (-7.3%) and Micron (-5.3%) all saw heavy losses. Corning was the worst S&P 500 performer, down ~14%, hit by both AI sentiment and a $2bn at-the-market equity offering announced Friday. Goldman Sachs fell 4.0% and Bank of America slumped 5% on the trading revenue warning. On the positive side, software and cybersecurity stocks rallied with CrowdStrike gaining 13.8% and Palo Alto adding 13%.
• EU — European equities fell on Monday, dragged by the global AI and chip selloff. The Stoxx Europe 600 declined 0.5%, the DAX fell 0.5%, and the CAC 40 dropped 0.8%. The FTSE 100 was a relative outperformer, edging up 0.4%, supported by energy names as oil prices rose. Semiconductor and tech-linked names bore the brunt of selling across the continent, mirroring the US move. German Bund yields hit a 15-year high, tracking the move in Treasuries.
• Asia — Asian markets were mixed on Monday but face a broadly weaker open on Tuesday. The Hang Seng rose 0.5% to 24,917.60 on Monday, bucking the regional trend, led by tech and biotech gains — Xiaomi +3.0%, Hansoh Pharmaceutical +5.1%, and Akeso surged ~6.9% after reporting positive cancer drug trial results. Shein fell ~6.4% after Jefferies initiated at Underperform. The Kospi fell 3.4% on Monday, the worst performer in the region, as SK Hynix and Samsung each lost over 4% on AI slowdown fears; Kospi futures opened down a further 0.4% on Tuesday to 6,659. The Nikkei fell as SoftBank slumped ~11% — its biggest drop in nearly three months — given its deep exposure to OpenAI. The Topix, however, ended up 0.7% with financials leading. Kioxia announced yesterday that they are to consider $10b US listing.