Asia-Pacific markets fell on Tuesday, led by South Korea's Kospi, where semiconductor stocks extended losses following another weak session for chipmakers on Wall Street overnight.
By 11:50 am AEST (1:50 am GMT), Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.2%, Japan's Nikkei 225 had dropped 4.2%, and South Korea's KOSPI 200 had slumped 8.4%.
The Korea Exchange activated circuit breakers on the Kospi after the index fell more than 8%, halting trading for 20 minutes.
South Korean chipmakers suffered heavy selling pressure, with SK Hynix plunging 11% and Samsung Electronics falling 9.5% as investors extended a broader technology sell-off.
Japan's semiconductor sector also weakened, with Tokyo Electron dropping 9.5%. SoftBank Group, which is viewed as a proxy for artificial intelligence investment through its stake in Arm, declined nearly 4.3%.
Despite the market sell-off, South Korean consumer sentiment improved for a third consecutive month in July, supported by strong exports and large-scale investment plans, according to the Bank of Korea.
The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) rose 0.2 points from June to 106.8. A reading above 100 indicates that optimists outnumber pessimists.
In the United States, major indexes finished mixed on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5%, the S&P 500 edged 0.02% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.2% as semiconductor stocks came under pressure.
In commodities, ICE Brent crude plunged 11.3% to US$85.87 a barrel, while spot gold gained 0.5% to settle at US$4,076.65 an ounce.
Chinese markets moved higher on Monday, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 1.2% to 3,858.2 and the CSI 300 gaining 1.2% to 4,702.4.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1% to 25,207.2, while India's BSE Sensex climbed 1% to 76,835.8.
European markets ended broadly higher on Monday. The UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 10,781.8, Germany's DAX added 1% to 25,361.0, and France's CAC 40 increased 0.4% to 8,406.1.
