Rising risk aversion grips global markets: South Korean stocks dropped over 4%, Bitcoin fell more than 2.7%, and Brent crude oil surged past $111.

Against the backdrop of rising Middle East tensions and mixed tech earnings results, global market risk sentiment has cooled. The Korea Composite Index fell over 4%, SK Hynix dropped more than 5%, and Samsung Electronics declined over 4%; the Nikkei 225 index fell around 2.65%, while the MSCI Asia Pacific index slipped 1.72%, hitting its lowest closing level since the end of July. In U.S. markets, Nasdaq futures fell 1.5% and S&P 500 futures declined 0.8%. In energy markets, Brent crude rose 2% to $111 per barrel. The U.S. State Department ordered non-emergency diplomatic personnel and their families at its Saudi Arabia embassy to evacuate, further stoking concerns over escalating Middle East tensions and disrupted oil supplies. Risk-off sentiment pushed U.S. Treasury prices higher: the 30-year Treasury yield fell 3 basis points to 5.38%, the U.S. dollar dropped 0.5% against the Japanese yen to 157.34. Precious metals also weakened: spot gold fell 1.04% to $4,097 per ounce, and spot silver declined 3.21%, briefly dipping below $56 per ounce. Bitcoin dropped over 2.7% on the day to around $82,200. In tech stocks, Tesla fell 3.3% in after-hours trading after cutting its capital expenditure forecast; Meta rose 2.14% in after-hours trading following an upward revision to its AI-related spending outlook; Lam Research dropped 7.21% in after-hours trading due to weaker-than-expected performance guidance. Market scrutiny of AI investment returns and commercialization prospects continues to intensify, as investors shift focus from capital expenditure size to evaluating actual performance and monetization capabilities.