Market Overview

Asian technology stocks retreated on Monday after Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh signaled that the Fed still has “work to do” on inflation, reviving expectations of a September rate hike. The probability of a September increase rose to 57% from roughly 35%, pushing the U.S. two‑year Treasury yield to a one‑month high of about 4.33%.

Equity Market Reaction

The broader Asian equity market turned risk‑off. South Korea’s KOSPI fell 2.1%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.7% and the TOPIX slipped 0.7%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index declined 0.8%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.9% and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.3%.

US Futures

U.S. equity futures mirrored the caution, with Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.6% and S&P 500 futures down 0.4% during Asian trading hours.

Semiconductor and Chip Stocks

South Korean chipmakers bore the brunt. SK Hynix Ltd fell 3.5% to 1,595 won and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd dropped 2.5% to 250,500 won, extending their monthly declines to 7.2% and 4.6% respectively. SK Hynix is reported to be evaluating outsourcing part of its next‑generation HBM4E base‑die production to Intel’s foundry, alongside its existing reliance on TSMC.

Taiwan’s semiconductor leader TSMC slipped 1.7% and the broader Taiex index fell about 1.9% on the day. TSMC is down nearly 2% for the month, while the Taiex remains roughly 5.6% higher in August.

Other Taiwanese chip‑related names showed mixed moves: Kioxia Holdings rose 1.1%, Sony gained 0.8%, and Largan Precision climbed 3.3%. Conversely, TDK fell 2.3% and Murata Manufacturing dropped 4.1%; TDK is still up about 1% for the month. LG Innotek posted a near 19% gain for the month, and Foxconn advanced almost 10% month‑to‑date.

Chinese Technology Stocks

In China, SMIC and Guoxin Technology each fell more than 2%. Among major internet firms, NetEase, Xiaomi and Baidu each slipped over 1%, while Alibaba lost about 1% and Tencent fell around 1.5%. The monthly picture shows Xiaomi down more than 4% in August, Alibaba off about 3.6%, and Tencent lower by roughly 5.6%.

Commodity Influence

Crude oil prices surged 4.55% amid renewed U.S.–Iran fighting, adding to the risk‑off tone across Asian markets.

Outlook

Market participants now await upcoming U.S. labor‑market and inflation data, which will influence whether the heightened September Fed‑hike expectations persist.