Bank Earnings and Memory Chip Rout Drive Broad Market Swings on October 13

A flood of major earnings reports and a sharp overnight sell-off in South Korean semiconductor stocks drove wide moves across global markets on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs led the bank gainers, rising more than 2.8% in premarket trading after reporting Q3 revenue of $18.68 billion, well above an LSEG estimate of $16.71 billion, with advisory revenue hitting a record $1.65 billion. JPMorgan Chase initially fell after posting a rare earnings and revenue miss, but recovered to trade nearly 1% higher after raising its net interest income outlook for 2026. Wells Fargo slid roughly 1% on mixed third-quarter numbers.

UnitedHealth Group surged about 2% after reporting Q3 adjusted earnings of $4.69 per share on revenue of $112.69 billion, beating analyst estimates of $4.14 per share and $111.40 billion in revenue, and the company raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to at least $20.50 per share. Johnson and Johnson stock slid after its own Q3 report fell short of expectations.

Memory chip names were under heavy pressure after South Korea's Kospi index sank more than 7%, its lowest level since late July and a steep retreat from an all-time high above 9,000 set in June. Samsung Electronics fell 7.7% in Seoul and its depositary receipts lost about 4%, while SK Hynix plunged 8.8%. The selling was triggered by China's ChangXin Memory Technologies, known as CXMT, announcing progress on a new chip architecture capable of packing more data into a smaller space, raising fears of intensifying competition in the global memory market. Micron fell around 3.8% in U.S. premarket trading, and Applied Materials and Broadcom also came under pressure as the semiconductor rout spread from Asia into European and U.S. markets.

Elsewhere, Visa shares surged on strong payments volume data, while VF Corporation and Melrose Industries rallied on company-specific developments. BYD and Haidilao were among Hong Kong-listed names sliding amid the broader risk-off tone in Asian markets.