Song Zhe is speaking logically; the rise in April was too much, now it's just profit-taking and people running away, don't panic

ME News Report, May 15th (UTC+8), Friday, Asian emerging market stocks declined sharply, oil prices surged, and limited progress in US-Iran peace negotiations heightened market concerns over inflation and economic outlook uncertainties. The MSCI Emerging Asia Stock Index fell more than 1.7%, with South Korea's KOSPI index's plunge being a major drag, dropping over 5%, triggering a "circuit breaker" for sellers, which caused the automatic trading system to pause for five minutes. Song Zhe, Senior Investment Specialist in Asian and Global Emerging Market Equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said: "We believe that today's market downward pressure is more due to the market digesting the profit-taking from the strong rebound since April, rather than a decisive shift in market sentiment into a full 'risk-averse mode'." "Previously, market positions had become relatively ample, leading to some profit-taking."