Anthropic IPO Filing Sends Kospi Up 3.1%; Indonesia Stocks Sink 3%

Anthropic's IPO filing pushed South Korea's Kospi up as much as 4.9% on Tuesday, Oct 27, before the index closed 3.1% higher. MSCI's emerging Asia equities index rose over 1% on the move, with Korean and Taiwanese shares together accounting for more than half of the regional gauge.

The Claude-owner's closely watched filing lifted risk appetite across Asian markets ahead of earnings from major US technology companies. Korea's chip-and-tech heavy benchmark was the clearest beneficiary.

What went wrong in Indonesia?

Indonesia told the opposite story. The benchmark stock index fell over 3% as investors kept assessing MSCI's downgrade warning, which has dented confidence in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Reed Capital Partners' chief investment officer Gerald Gan said the selloff in Indonesian equities may not be over yet. Indonesia may need higher interest rates to retain foreign capital, Gan added, with borrowing costs likely to rise further as elevated global yields and intense competition for investment — including from AI-related spending — pressure capital flows.

The rupiah traded near record lows at 18,155 per US dollar, within sight of the all-time trough hit in early June. It slipped toward the 18,190-per-dollar mark during the session.

How did other Asian currencies trade?

Currency markets were largely subdued outside Jakarta. The Philippine peso slid to a record low, crossing the 64-per-dollar mark.

The Thai baht was little changed. Thai stocks edged lower ahead of the Bank of Thailand's policy decision on Wednesday, with markets widely expecting policymakers to hold rates unchanged and maintain that stance through 2027.

In Taiwan, the central bank said robust demand for technology products would continue to support exports into next year, though economic growth is expected to moderate in 2027 after a strong expansion this year. Taiwan's benchmark index rose 0.1%; the Taiwan dollar added 0.2%.

Why did Brazil's real crash 8.5%?

Brazil delivered the day's sharpest move. The real plunged 8.5% against the US dollar on Monday, its steepest one-day decline since 2002. The Bovespa tumbled 10%, triggering a 30-minute trading halt.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's election to a fourth term unwound the optimism that had lifted Brazilian assets after rival Flavio Bolsonaro's stronger-than-expected first-round showing. The result flipped the trade: markets had positioned for a tighter contest.

What happens next?

Investors now face a raft of central bank decisions this week. Markets widely expect the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank to keep interest rates unchanged.

The split between Seoul and Jakarta frames the week: AI-driven capital is rewarding tech-heavy Korea, while countries competing for the same flows — Indonesia among them — face higher funding costs to hold onto foreign money.