Market AnalysisJul 28, 20262 Min
Global market wrap: Asian stocks see sharp correction ahead of mega earnings; Apple beats Nvidia to become No. 1
We are back with quick updates on global developments around stock markets, commodities and companies that are making headlines today.
Asian markets witnessed heavy selling pressure on Tuesday as investors geared up for mega earnings announcements this week from hyperscalers like Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi plunged 10% to 6,084 on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index also slid 4.1% to 62,295.
China’s Shanghai Composite index lost 1% to 3,821 on Tuesday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1% to 25,178. Singapore’s Straits Times was also down 0.2% to 5,608.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was the only outlier, rising 0.4% to 8,930 on Tuesday.
US stock futures were trading flat ahead of the Federal Reserve rate decision announcement on Wednesday. S&P 500 futures were trading lower by 0.2%, Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.8%, while futures tied to the Dow were trading flat.
On Monday, the S&P 500 closed flat, the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.5% higher.
Oil prices were trading at their lowest level in more than a week on Tuesday amid a pause in the US-Iran hostilities. The US crude oil futures for July delivery lost 1.2% to $81.63 per barrel by 0042 ET, while Brent futures for August delivery declined 1.2% to $84.85 per barrel.
Gold prices also eased on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions cooled off. Spot gold was trading down 0.75% at $4,046.05 per ounce by 0442 GMT, while US gold futures for August delivery fell 0.8% to $4,045.65 per ounce.
Here’s a look at the key developments of the day:
Nvidia may invest $5 billion in Ilya Sutskever’s AI startup
According to a report, US chipmaker Nvidia will make a $5 billion equity investment in Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a startup co-founded by OpenAI’s former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. The two companies announced the deal on Monday morning without disclosing financial terms, the report said.
The funding will boost SSI’s available computing resources and also give it access to Nvidia’s cutting-edge Vera Rubin hardware.
Apple beats Nvidia to become world’s most valuable company
Shares of Apple Inc. rose 1% on Monday, while those of Nvidia declined 5%, thereby passing the title of world’s most valuable company to the iPhone maker.
It was the first time since April 2025 that Apple passed Nvidia in terms of valuation at market close.
Apple’s market cap jumped to $4.95 trillion ahead of the company’s earnings on Thursday, while Nvidia’s valuation fell to $4.77 trillion amid broader decline in AI chip stocks.
Microsoft unveils its cost-saving AI cybersecurity model
In a major push for its cybersecurity business, Microsoft on Monday talked up a new artificial intelligence (AI) model for spotting cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
The company said that when paired with OpenAI’s general-purpose GPT-5.4, Microsoft’s MAI-Cyber-1-Flash outperforms Anthropic’s Mythos 5, Google’s 3.5 Flash Cyber and OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 Cyber on the CyberGym benchmark.
Luxury giant LVMH’s sales rise in the second quarter
Sales at luxury giant LVMH, owner of Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moet & Chandon champagne, rose in the second quarter as strong demand from affluent US shoppers helped offset weaker spending in Europe.
Sales rose 3% when adjusted for currency swings to $22.2 billion. The company said that growth was driven by the US, where sales rose 6% after a 3% increase in the first quarter.
SK Hynix shares slide 13% in South Korea amid broader AI selloff
Shares of semiconductor stocks plunged across Asia on Tuesday, with South Korea-listed shares of domestic chip giant SK Hynix taking the worst hit.
SK Hynix slid over 13%, while Samsung Electronics fell over 12%. Other AI-linked names in Asia also witnessed selling pressure like Samsung SDI that dropped over 10%, LG Innotek that fell 18%, Seoul Semiconductor that was down about 7% and LG Chem that lost more than 6%.
China’s Zhongji Innolight raises $6.81 bn in Asia’s second-largest listing of 2026
Chinese optical parts maker Zhongji Innolight on Tuesday said that it had priced its Hong Kong listing at HK$980 per H share, raising HK$53.41 billion ($6.81 billion) in Asia’s second-largest listing this year.
Zhongji Innolight sold 54.5 million Hong Kong shares in the deal. The final offer price was below the maximum limit of HK$1,010 set when the deal was launched last week. The Shenzhen-listed company’s IPO trailed only Chinese chipmaker CXMT Corp’s $8.6 billion Shanghai offering.
