Shanghai — Equity markets in Asia faltered on Wednesday, amid losses in South Korea and worries that China has put any further stimulus on hold as the economy shows signs of regaining its footing. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.5% lower, erasing early gains in the wake of record closing highs on Wall Street overnight. The biggest regional loser was South Korea’s KOSPI, which was down 1.3%. Investors shrugged off the government’s proposed supplementary budget aimed in part at supporting exports, and worried after chipmaker Texas Instruments said it expects a slowdown in demand for microchips could last a few more quarters. Shares of Samsung Electronics were down 2.1%. “Texas Instruments has published some good results but has poured a little bit of cold water on what’s going to happen in the second half of the year,” said Frank Benzimra, head of Asia equity strategy at Societe Generale. Chinese equities also dropped after early gains, pushing the blu...
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