Asian markets open: Nikkei flat, Kospi drops 0.5% after US House blocks crypto bills

Asian stock markets began Wednesday’s trading session on a weaker footing, with most regional indices declining as investors reacted to a surprising legislative setback for cryptocurrency bills in the US House of Representatives and cautionary comments from a key Federal Reserve official.

While a rally in chip stocks provided a pocket of strength, the broader market sentiment was subdued.

A key driver for the market’s cautious tone was the news that several cryptocurrency regulation bills, which had been backed by President Donald Trump, failed to clear a crucial procedural hurdle on Tuesday in the US House of Representatives.

In a surprise vote, the final tally was 196 in favor and 223 against, with thirteen Republicans joining Democrats to block the legislation from moving forward. The bills, which aimed to provide a regulatory framework for the crypto industry, cannot now advance until the House approves new rules of debate.

This unexpected development dealt a significant blow to the crypto industry and had an immediate impact on digital asset prices.

The price of Bitcoin was last down 1.46% at $118,089.41, according to Coin Metrics, marking a pullback after recently notching a record high of over $120,000.

Adding to the cautious mood, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan stated that while policymakers will likely need to hold interest rates steady for a bit longer to fully cool inflation, new data signaled that companies are beginning to pass some tariff-related costs on to consumers.

Following her comments, traders priced in somewhat lower odds that the Fed will cut rates more than once this year, with the probability of a move in September now seen as only slightly higher than 50%.

A mixed picture across Asian bourses

This combination of factors led to a lower start for most Asian markets. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was flat at the open, while the broader Topix slipped 0.11% as of 8:04 a.m. local time. 

South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.5%, and the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.56% lower. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also declined by 0.82%. In broader terms, the MSCI regional gauge dropped 0.4%, with losses seen across Australia, Japan, and South Korea.

US Treasuries edged down in early Asian trading, with 30-year yields topping 5%. The Japanese yen also pulled back slightly after falling to its lowest level since April.

However, futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 24,622, pointing to a stronger open compared to its last close of 24,590.12.

Investors will also be keeping an eye on Indonesian stocks after US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he has reached a preliminary trade deal with Indonesia, which will impose a 19% tariff on the Southeast Asian country’s US exports.

Chip stocks defy the downturn on US export news

A notable bright spot amidst the general market weakness was the performance of Asian chip stocks. The sector rallied after artificial intelligence darling Nvidia announced it would resume sales of its H20 AI general processing units to China “soon,” following the US’s reversal of certain export controls.

This news had a positive ripple effect across the region’s tech supply chain. 

TSMC, which manufactures Nvidia’s high-performance graphics processing units that are crucial for powering large language models, saw its shares rise by 0.9%. Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry—globally known as Foxconn—inched 0.31% higher.

Foxconn has a strategic partnership with Nvidia to build “AI factories” that incorporate Nvidia’s chips into a wide range of applications, including electric vehicles and LLMs.

Several Japanese chip stocks also rose as Nvidia’s positive news sparked wider optimism around the artificial intelligence sector.

Semiconductor testing equipment supplier Advantest gained 0.73%, and Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank, which owns a stake in British chip designer Arm, saw its shares jump 0.48%.

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