Asia-Pacific stock markets experienced a downturn on Monday, following a decline on Wall Street last Friday, as investors appeared to pause their engagement with AI-related trades.

“On Friday, we witnessed a day where value stocks outperformed growth stocks,” remarked Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. “There’s a noticeable nervousness among investors regarding AI. It’s not sheer pessimism, but rather a sense of caution and hesitation.”

Investors in Asia are also eagerly awaiting significant economic data from China, which is expected to release its November figures for retail sales, fixed asset investment, and industrial production.

In South Korea, the Kospi index dropped by 2.16%, while the smaller-cap Kosdaq index saw a decline of 1.17%. Among major index players, SK Hynix, a prominent memory chipmaker, fell by over 4%, and tech giant Samsung Electronics saw a 3.3% decrease.

Japan announced its fourth-quarter Tankan numbers. The index for business optimism among large Japanese manufacturers increased to +15 for the fourth quarter, hitting the highest level in four years.

The latest reading compared to the +14 increase in the previous quarter, and matched expectations of economists polled by Reuters. The non-manufacturing index for the fourth quarter came in at +34.

The Tankan survey, conducted by the Bank of Japan, measures business sentiment among companies in the world’s fourth largest economy.