Asian Stocks Fall as Chip Rally Cools

Asian equities fell on Friday, led by South Korea’s KOSPI dropping 3.5% amid steep losses in major chipmakers.
US Trade Rep Jamieson Greer said chip export controls weren’t discussed, dampening hopes after report on NVIDIA’s H200 sales to Chinese firms.
Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1.6% and TOPIX 0.3% as April PPI inflation surged, driven by oil and chemical prices from the Iran conflict.
Chinese CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite stayed flat as Trump and Xi prepared for talks, with Trump saying China will buy US oil.