[MARKET UPDATE] Nikkei 225 opens with losses of 2.1% and KOSPI falls 2.7% as APAC tech plays catchup to the AI-related losses on Wall Street on Friday; ASX 200 trades higher by 0.4%

This is the standard catch-up sequence: when Wall Street sells off late in its session, Asia opens the following day by pricing the move in one gap, and the size of the gap in Tokyo and Seoul here is consistent with tech-heavy indices digesting concentrated AI-related losses rather than fresh regional news. The pattern in comparable episodes is that the first hour decides the day; if the gap is not filled early, selling tends to extend as momentum accounts and index futures funds rebalance, whereas a failure to break lower after the open has often marked the exhaustion of the catch-up leg. The divergence is the telling detail: the Nikkei and KOSPI carry heavy semiconductor and AI supply-chain weightings, while the ASX 200's materials and financials tilt insulates it from that trade, and its ability to hold gains while regional tech falls has historically flagged the move as sector rotation rather than broad risk aversion. The transmission channel to watch is the semiconductor complex itself, since Nikkei and KOSPI weakness of this kind typically tracks the US chip names rather than domestic fundamentals. Follow-ons are the US equity futures session through Asian hours, whether the yen strengthens on any safe-haven bid (which would compound Nikkei pressure via the exporter channel), and the European open as the first test of whether the Friday selloff was US-specific or the start of something broader.