TradingKey - Oil surging past $100 heightens fears of second-round inflation as KOSPI approaches 7,000, Nikkei drops below 65,000, and chip stocks trend lower across the board.

During Asian trading hours on September 10, Japanese and South Korean stock markets both opened lower in early trading, with overall sentiment leaning cautious. South Korea's KOSPI Index fell 0.62% to approach the 7,000 mark, trading at 7,008.00 points. Key tech chip stocks all declined, with Samsung Electronics falling 0.93% to 267,000 KRW, and SK Hynix opening down 0.27% at 1,851,000 KRW.

KOSPI Index chart, Source: TradingView

The Nikkei 225 Index opened down 0.62%, losing the 65,000 mark to trade at 64,743.70 points. Trends diverged between two major heavyweights, with SoftBank rising 0.73% to 6,860 JPY, while Kioxia dropped 0.67% to 56,620 JPY.

U.S. Treasury yields remained high, suppressing the opening performance of high-valuation tech and growth stocks. On the previous trading day (September 9), U.S. stocks continued to decline, with the three major indexes falling for three consecutive trading days as the Dow Jones dropped 0.77% and the Nasdaq fell 0.64%. Star tech stocks such as Nvidia (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL) generally declined, spreading risk-off sentiment into Asian early trading. However, strength in memory-related stocks supported share prices of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

In addition, persistent geopolitical tensions continued to fuel concerns over energy supply. Crude oil prices rose further, with Brent crude (UKOIL) briefly breaching the $100/barrel mark this morning and WTI crude (USOIL) rising above $96/barrel. As economies heavily dependent on energy imports, Japan and South Korea saw the surge in oil prices deepen market anxiety over domestic second-round inflation and rising corporate costs.

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