How Asia Tech Selloff Unfolded Over DUVs, Circular Deals

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  July 28, 2026 at 05:05  |  8:13  |  Bloomberg Markets
Speakers
Frank Benzimra — Head of Asia Equity Strategy, Societe Generale
Yvonne Man — Head of APAC, CoinDesk

Summary

Asia tech stocks plunged on dual fears: China's DUV lithography advancement and Nvidia's circular financing deals. Korea's Kospi and Kosdaq triggered trading halts. SocGen's Frank Benzimra urges avoiding Korean semiconductor leaders and buying the rest of Korea for value and governance reforms.

  • South Korea's Kospi and Kosdaq halted trading after heavy tech-driven selloffs.
  • A report said a Chinese state-backed firm plans to mass-produce DUV lithography machines, threatening ASML's dominance.
  • Nvidia's circular financing deals with SK Group and SoftBank/OpenAI raised demand transparency worries.
  • Frank Benzimra advised caution on Korean semiconductor heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix due to peak margins and leverage.
  • He recommended focusing on non-semiconductor Korea for low price/book, governance reform and solid earnings.
  • Chinese consumer names like Midea and Kweichow Moutai saw rotation inflows amid the tech rout.
Ideas
Frank Benzimra Head of Asia Equity Strategy, Societe Generale 1:24
Cautious on Korean semiconductor heavyweights.
Semiconductor companies are reporting record earnings but are at top margin, the market is cyclical, and leverage is super-concentrated in few names. Deleveraging is ongoing and not yet done, so investors should be cautious on semiconductor-heavy Korea, specifically the top two semiconductor names.
005930.KS 000660.KS MED
Frank Benzimra Head of Asia Equity Strategy, Societe Generale 1:35
Buy Korea ex-semis for value, reforms.
When you remove the top two semiconductor names, the rest of Korea trades at a price to book of only 1.5 times, governance reforms are happening, and earnings are at a pretty good level. Investors should focus on this other Korea.
South Korean equities excluding Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix MED
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This Bloomberg Markets video, published July 28, 2026, features Frank Benzimra discussing 005930.KS, 000660.KS, South Korean equities excluding Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. 2 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Frank Benzimra  · Tickers: 005930.KS, 000660.KS, South Korean equities excluding Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix