06:37 AM EDT, 10/15/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely retreated on Thursday, including a 7.6% dive on Seoul's KOSPI index, after a hotter-than-expected US inflation report on Wednesday triggered concerns that central bank tightening is pending to curb rising prices.

Undercutting sentiments further were reports that bonds issued by US data center operator CoreWeave (CRWV) had plunged in market value, prompting credit concerns about the heavily leveraged data center sector. CoreWeave shares traded down 15.5% Wednesday.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished solidly in the red on Thursday, as did most other regional exchanges.

Brent crude futures traded down 1.8% to $104.12 a barrel during Asian market hours.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower on Wall Street cues and declined thereafter, closing down 4.9% as traders backed away from AI- and semiconductor-related shares.

A stronger yen also pressured export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 3,318.34 to 64,425.95, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 135 to 87.

Leading the upside was Sumitomo Pharma, up 15.8%, while semiconductor-test equipment maker Advantest fell 15%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and could not recover, closing down 1% in the global tech retreat.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 251.45 to 24,062.72, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 61 to 33. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 2.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.6%.

Leading the upside was BeOne Medicines, gaining 2.5%, while computer-maker Lenovo declined 14.5%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell by 1.6% to 3,707.48.

On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE declined 3.4%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.4%, and the Thai Set declined 0.2%.

In Mumbai, the Sensex index bucked global trends to finish up 2%. The market rise followed comments by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that discussions were being held regarding long-term capital gains and securities transaction taxes, reported The Economic Times.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 2.9% on the day.

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