On Thursday, August 6, 2026, Asian shares retreated after a strong AI-driven rally the previous day, while oil prices remained stable as markets focused on the potential for an Iran peace agreement.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 0.69%, with technology firms leading the decline. South Korean shares dropped 3.64%, and Japan's Nikkei index lost 1.57%. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics shares fell 2.44%, and SK Hynix declined 6.95%. Tokyo saw significant losses as well, with Kioxia plunging 9.61% and Tokyo Electron down 4.61%.

The pullback followed a weaker session on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq ended a multi-day winning streak amid disappointing quarterly earnings from SpaceX and Advanced Micro Devices. Despite SpaceX highlighting faster-than-expected returns from its AI investments, concerns lingered about the sustainability of its Starlink business funding costly data center expansions.

Madison Cartwright, senior geo-economics analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, commented that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached by early September, though he expressed skepticism about the immediacy of such an agreement. He noted, "Iran still has more leverage and will extract additional concessions from the U.S. under any new deal."

Economists polled by Reuters anticipate the U.S. economy added 80,000 jobs in July, following a 57,000 gain in June, with the unemployment rate expected to remain steady at 4.2%. Futures markets currently price in about a 54% chance of a Federal Reserve rate hike at the September meeting, slightly down from 58% the previous day.

Sources