24/06/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | JUNE 24, 2026

16 Seoul’s Kospi tanks 10% to lead tech-fuelled Asia rout

that examined the scandal. He disclosed at the hearing that KPMG Australia staff shared sensitive information about telecom firm Optus with another internal team bidding for an audit contract for its rival Telstra in a breach of ethics. Sheppard faced criticism for invoking legal professional privilege to prevent the committee accessing internal documents, before later reversing his decision. “The parliamentary committee’s enquiries highlighted issues, including unethical behaviour by senior personnel and the human impact of KPMG’s handling of the whistleblower. KPMG Australia is focused on ensuring those failings are understood, addressed and not repeated,” Stavros said. – Reuters Nissan shelves development of electric Qashqai in cost-cutting drive TOKYO: Nissan has stopped work on an electric version of its top-selling model in Europe, six sources with knowledge of the matter said, as the Japanese automaker trims its lineup and cuts costs. The move to quietly halt development of a fully electric Qashqai comes as traditional rivals and new Chinese entrants flood Europe with affordable alternatives. While shelving the project will save money, Nissan may not be able to bring the car to market until early next decade if it has a rethink, likely leaving it trailing peers in a key market segment. Nissan in 2023 committed to building an EV version of its Qashqai SUV at Sunderland, Britain’s largest car plant, a plan that was hailed by the UK government at the time as cementing its position as a global EV manufacturing hub. The company at the time did not specify a timeline to deliver the EV variant. The automaker has since embarked on a major global restructuring, however, and is currently in talks with London about securing financial support for an updated roadmap for the plant expected in coming months, Reuters exclusively reported last week. That announcement is expected to clarify its latest plans for the electric Qashqai, development of which was halted early last year, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. It already makes the electric compact Leaf at the plant and in April unveiled an electric crossover SUV Juke to be built there. Even if Nissan restarts the Qashqai EV project, it would not come to market until the early 2030s, two of the sources said. In a statement, Nissan did not address its plans for a fully electric Qashqai, but said it remained committed to expanding its “electrified” line-up, which includes hybrid models. The company added that the European market had experienced “significant volatility” in EV demand and that it was pursuing a “balanced” electrification strategy. A UK government spokesperson declined to comment on Nissan’s commercial decisions. Nissan already sells the Qashqai as a petrol and hybrid vehicle, and the model accounted for about 45% of its total sales of 330,000 cars in Europe in 2025, according to its sales data analysed by Reuters. – Reuters

o Chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung tumble more than 12% each HONG KONG: Seoul collapsed 10% to close at at 8,203.84 yesterday in an Asian stock market rout that followed a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street with investors again questioning a long-running AI-fuelled boom, while oil extended losses on peace talk optimism. While Washington and Tehran flagged progress at negotiations in Switzerland, traders are struggling to build on last week’s rally sparked by news of a deal to end the Middle East conflict. Tech firms – the main driver of a surge across world markets as investors pile into all things AI – took a painful hit in Asia. South Korean chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung tumbled more than 12% each to drag the Kospi down 10%, having finished Monday at a record high. “The move appears to reflect South Korean semiconductor stocks having risen too far, too fast, prompting aggressive selling by both foreign investors and domestic institutions,” Joo Won, head of the economic research division at Hyundai Research Institute, told AFP. “The scale of the decline also appears excessive. More importantly, the sell-off could signal that investors are beginning a broader process of reducing their positions. In other words, there may still be considerable selling pressure waiting in the wings. “Having accumulated sizeable gains during the rally, many investors could be inclined to cash out first and reassess later.” Tokyo also took a hiding, with the Nikkei 225 shedding 3.6% to 69,788.38, with tech investment titan SoftBank down more than 10%,

A currency dealer walks past a screen showing South Korea’s benchmark stock index Kospi in a foreign exchange dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul yesterday. – AFPPIC

wiping hundreds of billions off its valuation – after a record IPO and a winning trio of opening trading sessions. The fall came as the rocket and satellite company disclosed plans for an “inaugural” bond offering of unspecified quantity. Monday’s selling revived worries about the wisdom of the vast sums being pumped into AI with little sign of any returns being made soon. Traders are also fretting over the extended valuations of some firms. “While the sector has performed exceptionally well, valuations have become stretched and the bar is now materially higher than it was a few months ago,” wrote Tony Sycamore at IG.– AFP

Tokyo Electron 6.2% lower and Advantest off more than 2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index sank 1.8% to 23,336.28, while the Shangha Composite Index closed 1.4% lower at 4,106.25. Taipei also suffered strong selling pressure. Sydney, Wellington, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta were sharply down. London, Paris and Frankfurt were all on the back foot in early trade The rout followed a sharp drop on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq sank more than 1% as market giants Amazon, Nvidia and Microsoft were sharply down. But the main victim of the day was Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which plunged more than 16% –

Minerals group Orion CMC in advanced talks for three Asian tie-ups MELBOURNE: Orion Critical Mineral Consortium (Orion CMC), a minerals investment group backed by the US government, is in advanced discussions to establish three new public-private part nerships in Asia as it seeks to fund a US$20 billion (RM83 billion) global pipeline of opportunities, executives told Reuters. and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ. “There are three fairly advanced sets of discussions with Asian counterparties to add them to the roster, it’s a priority,” Orion Resource Partners CEO Oskar Lewnowski said. investment beyond a previous target of US$5 billion has not previously been reported. The push comes as demand for critical minerals accelerates, he said.

That expansion will require an estimated US$2.4 trillion in investment by mid-century, including at least US$800 billion over the next 15 years to bring projects online, Lewnowski said. However, governments are grappling with high debt loads and banks have pulled back from pre-revenue project financing, creating a major funding shortfall. “The amount of money (needed) is huge. So to activate that kind of pipeline, we need all hands to battle stations,” Lewnowski said. – Reuters

“Things with the US and the Middle East are progressing nicely, but we would certainly love to add the third leg, which would be an Asian based set of investors,” he said, adding potential partners included additional sovereign wealth funds, government agencies and original equipment manufacturers. The priority of Asia as the next major investment destination for the consortium, the impending partnerships and the scale of foreseen

The consortium plans to form a third regional leg of investment to add to US$1.8 billion raised by the group last year to bolster Western access to copper, lithium, rare earths and other critical minerals. It is led by mining-focused private equity house Orion Resource Partners, and backed by the US International Development Finance Corporation ,

KPMG Australia chairman, two partners resign as audit scandal widens SYDNEY: KPMG Australia said yesterday its chairman and two senior partners will leave the firm as it moves to contain a growing scandal over whistleblower allegations that staff misused confidential client information to win audit work. the whistleblower, our people, our clients and the community.” KPMG has been under fire after the investigation by Australia’s corporate regulator. Earlier this month, KPMG said Hoggett had stepped down as chief operating officer but would remain a partner pending investigations into the allegations.

whistleblower alleged it misused confidential board papers from real estate company Lendlease to support bids for major audit tenders. KPMG has admitted it has mishandled the complaint and has launched a fourth investigation after the previous ones failed to substantiate any wrongdoing. Rogers and Hoggett were directly named by the whistleblower as the lead partners on the Lendlease auditing team involved in the misconduct, according to the whistleblower’s allegations that were made public in March. Both Rogers and Hoggett are under

KPMG said Sheppard would leave the firm after a short transition period and retire from his regional board responsibilities. He would be replaced with an independent chair, and independent members would be added to the Australian board as part of measures announced to “overhaul governance and rebuild trust” that also include a review into sanctions for staff misconduct. The announcement comes after Sheppard appeared on Friday at a parliamentary committee

The departures of chairman Martin Sheppard, and audit partners Paul Rogers and Eileen Hoggett, mark the latest fallout from the controversy that has engulfed the firm and has already claimed its CEO and audit chief. “The decisions announced today are necessary and immediate,” interim CEO Stan Stavros said in a statement. “We did not meet the standards expected of us, and we recognise the impact this has had on