Asia closed split down the tech axis: Korea ripped, China lagged, Japan firm, dollar-yen sticky at the highs.
The KOSPI was the story, up roughly 3.6% to a fresh high as Samsung and SK Hynix surged on reports Temasek is taking stakes in both, dragging the AI-hardware trade higher across the region. The Nikkei added about 1.2% to 68,300, Topix up 0.9%, both riding the same semis-and-AI-capex bid plus a wholesale inflation print. The mainland lagged the region again — CSI 300 down roughly 0.6%, Shanghai Composite off 0.5% — while the Hang Seng slipped modestly into the close, an underperformance that keeps the China-reopening trade on ice. USD/JPY held near 159.4-159.5, having clawed back roughly half of the drop from Tokyo and Washington's record coordinated intervention two weeks ago; USD/CNH continues to trade as a beta play on the yen, drifting with it rather than on its own fundamentals.
Read-through to the US open is constructive but data-dependent. July CPI landed in line Wednesday, and futures are pointing to a modestly firmer open — S&P and Nasdaq both green — with the focus now on this morning's PPI print and jobless claims for confirmation the disinflation trend holds. Brent near 88 and WTI near 83 on unresolved Hormuz tension keep an energy bid embedded under the tape.
The risk: a hot PPI surprise reverses the in-line CPI relief and reprices September hike odds higher, while 159-160 on yen is the line where fresh MOF/Fed intervention chatter could whip both JPY and CNH violently.