<body><p>STORY: Asian stocks plunged on Monday morning as investors hit the brakes on the red-hot AI rally.</p><p>South Korea’s tech-heavy KOSPI index took the heaviest beating.</p><p>It was down around 6% by late-morning after volatile trade had earlier triggered a 20-minute halt.</p><p>Chip giant Samsung matched the overall decline. </p><p>Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei index was down around 4% by the same time.</p><p>That follows a similar drop for the Nasdaq on Wall Street at the end of last week.</p><p>One analyst told Reuters that doubts have crept in over tech earnings, partly following weaker-than-expected numbers from US chipmaker Broadcom.</p><p>Last week’s hotter-than-expected U.S. jobs data have also all but wiped out hopes for further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.</p><p>Then there’s Iran.</p><p>Tensions in the Middle East have flared again, following Israel’s strikes on Lebanon, and Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel.</p><p>International benchmark Brent Crude was up around 3% on Monday morning, once again heading towards the $100 per barrel mark.</p><p>That’s despite weekend action by the OPEC+ oil exporters’ group to reassure markets with a further boost to output.</p><p>Later this week, all eyes turn to the potentially record breaking SpaceX share listing.</p><p>Elon Musk’s rocket firm is set to start trading on Friday, and is expected to debut with a valuation of around $1.75 trillion.</p><p>With so much money going to that, and more possible mega-listings such as OpenAI, some brokers have expressed concern about the impact on other assets. </p></body>
