HONG KONG (AP) – U.S. futures and Asian shares predominantly fell on Friday, reflecting the downward trend in Wall Street, where technology stocks adversely affected market performance once again. Bitcoin, the premier cryptocurrency, plummeted to about half its record high, erasing all its gains since former U.S. President Donald Trump secured re-election for a second term.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was up 0.5% to 54,073.52, showing recovery after earlier losses this week, primarily led by gains in technology-related stocks. Notably, SoftBank Group rose by 1.9%, and chipmaker Tokyo Electron advanced by 3%. Japan is preparing for its general election on Sunday, where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is hopeful of consolidating a stronger public mandate for her policies.
Conversely, South Korea’s Kospi index suffered a decline of 1.7%, settling at 5,076.69, primarily impacted by losses in tech shares. Samsung Electronics, the largest listed company in South Korea, saw a 0.9% decrease, while chipmaker SK Hynix experienced a drop of 0.6%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell by 1.2% to 26,569.14, while the Shanghai Composite index remained flat at 4,075.37. Australian markets also experienced downturn, with the S&P/ASX 200 dropping by 1.6% to 8,745.60. Taiwan’s Taiex index saw a slight decline of 0.2%.
The recent technology sell-off significantly affected Bitcoin, which is now trading approximately 9% lower at just under $65,000, having earlier dipped over 12% to below $64,000. This marks a substantial decrease from its peak of over $124,000 achieved in October. Meanwhile, futures for the S&P 500 were down by 0.3%, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures also dropping by 0.2%.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 index fell by 1.2% to 6,798.40, marking its sixth decline in seven days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average similarly decreased by 1.2% to 48,908.72, while the Nasdaq composite dropped by 1.6% to 22,540.59. The technology sector experienced the most significant losses, as concerns grew regarding whether the considerable investments in artificial intelligence (AI) by major tech companies would yield profitable returns.
Qualcomm's stock plummeted by 8.5% despite reporting better-than-expected quarterly revenues, while Alphabet’s shares fell by 0.5% amidst investor concerns over its sizable expenditures in AI. Amazon also faced considerable losses, dropping 11% in after-hours trading on Thursday after announcing plans to increase capital spending by more than 50% to $200 billion focused on AI and other areas.
The downturn was exacerbated by the emergence of new AI tools from American startup Anthropic, which contributed to the sell-off of software stocks on Wall Street, raising fears that traditional software services and products could be disrupted or replaced.
Gold and silver prices experienced volatility this week following an extended rally as investors turned to safe-haven assets due to elevated geopolitical tensions. Gold prices fell by 1% on Friday to $4,843.70 per ounce, following a recent peak near $5,600. Silver prices, on the other hand, dropped by 6.6% to $71.63 per ounce after earlier gains, and the metal had already lost over 31% the previous Friday.
In the commodities market, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose by 35 cents to $63.64 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international reference, increased by 36 cents to $67.91 a barrel. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar weakened slightly against the Japanese yen, falling to 156.74 from 157.03. The euro traded at $1.1789, an increase from $1.1777.
