Asia-Pacific Weekly Kickstart: MXAPJ fell 2% as Tech risk-off continued amid AI funding scrutiny, higher oil prices, and more hawkish central banks; we lower our KOSPI target to 9,000 but retain an attractive risk/reward view

MXAPJ fell 2.3%, with Indonesia (+7%), Australia and Malaysia (both flat) outperforming offshore China and India (both -4%) and Taiwan (-2%). Software & Services, Telecom Services and Banks led, while Internet/Media, Retail and Materials lagged. EM Asia ex-China saw US$8.9bn of outflows, led by Taiwan (-US$7.6bn) and Korea (-US$1.0bn). Brent rose to its highest since May as Middle East tensions escalated, while concerns over AI durability drove a global Tech sell-off and pushed credit spreads to 17-month highs. China's 3Q GDP modestly beat expectations and the PBOC outlined monetary-policy framework reforms; Korea's early October exports and Taiwan's IP softened, the BOK held with a hawkish bias and the BSP unexpectedly hiked 50bp. On Korea, KOSPI has fallen 40%, bringing forward P/E to 4x (-3 s.d.);