Asian equities fell on Thursday as investors weighed a looming wave of AI-related corporate borrowing that has pushed bond market stress gauges to fresh records.

Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.9 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.6 per cent, and MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan was down 0.1 per cent in morning trade.

The debt wave is building fast. Broadcom is lining up more than 50 billion dollars in financing for OpenAI chip supply, SpaceX is raising 30 billion dollars in investment-grade debt plus 10 billion dollars in loans, and Oracle is in talks with Apollo and Goldman Sachs for its own funding.

Credit markets are showing strain. The cost of insuring SpaceX debt has hit a record, signalling investor unease about how much leverage AI spending can support. Nvidia, a major SpaceX shareholder, has helped bankroll the AI buildout, linking the equity and credit stories.

Oil added to the caution. Brent rose 2.1 per cent to 102.30 dollars a barrel after renewed attacks on Gulf shipping, while US 10-year yields hovered below recent 24-year highs.