A global selloff in technology stocks gained momentum as doubts over returns from billions of dollars spent on artificial intelligence were compounded by a surge in oil prices that rekindled inflation concerns.
MSCI’s Asia Pacific equities gauge fell 2.2%, following a selloff on Wall Street that saw the S&P 500 Index drop the most in a month.
Regional chip bellwethers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. — beneficiaries of the global AI buildout — both slumped more than 7%. Equity-index futures indicated further losses for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 and a flat open for European stocks.
“Investors are already feeling increasingly jittery about the sustainability of the AI rally,” said Gerald Gan, chief investment officer at Reed Capital in Singapore.
“That said, any short-term correction is likely to attract dip buyers once again. For now, the music has not stopped.”
Further weighing on sentiment, Brent traded around $100 a barrel, having climbed over that level on Thursday after Houthi attacks on tankers in the Red Sea opened a new front in the Middle East conflict, while President Donald Trump threatened to extend US strikes on Iran.
