By David Savage, Bloomberg Markets Live reporter and strategist
The trend is now an enemy for Asian equities, especially those in South Korea, rather than the friend it was when they soared for much of the first half of 2026.
Momentum has been the undisputed king for global factor investing in 2026, particularly for Asian markets. Those trades are fracturing, as reversals in South Korea and other tech-heavy sectors set off a deepening rotation in the region. Investors look to be taking some of the hefty profits that remain on the winners from 1H 2026 and pivoting toward other assets. That’s a theme also gaining traction for US chipmakers, with the SOX Index down more than ~18% from the highs of June.
June is looking like it was the peak for Asian equity momentum. That was when some key global index rebalancing provided a price insensitive buyer for recent AI-aligned winners. Aided by the SpaceX IPO, that kicked off a retail frenzy that reverberated across Asian markets. Now that rebalancing activity has passed, and recent additions to benchmarks such as SpaceX and Marvell Technology are seeing some mean reversion.
Foreign equity outflows were already making Asia more dependent on retail investors, who turned to leveraged ETFs and margin borrowing to amplify their bets. Overseas funds offloaded over $100 billion of South Korean stocks and more than $30 billion of Taiwanese shares YTD. That came even as those markets expanded to each surpass $5 trillion in June, overtaking the UK and C
