Asia-Pacific markets retreat amid Trump-Xi tensions. South Korea's Kospi fell over 6% Friday after hitting a record high, dragged down by heavyweight tech stocks Samsung and SK Hynix amid concerns over concentration risk in artificial intelligence shares. The Kospi closed at 7,493.18 after briefly breaching 8,000 earlier in the session. Samsung shares dropped 8.6% following union announcement of an 18-day strike beginning May 21. Japan's Nikkei declined 2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.6% as investors monitored the second day of high-stakes U.S.-China summit talks. President Xi warned Trump that mishandling Taiwan could trigger clashes between the superpowers. Precious metals also sold off sharply, with gold down 1.43% and silver falling over 5%. The market volatility reflects growing uncertainty around U.S.-China relations and their broader economic implications.
