Stocks tumble as AI rout deepens, silver hammered
Asian stock markets continued their losses for a second day in early trading on Friday as the sell-off on Wall Street intensified and precious metals and cryptocurrencies remained under the influence of volatility.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.9 percent, led by a 5.0 percent decline in South Korea’s Kospi that triggered a brief trading halt shortly after the open. In Japan, Nikkei 225 lost 0.7 percent of its value, while S&P 500 e-mini futures lost 0.6 percent and Nasdaq e-mini futures lost 1.1 percent.
“Investors are questioning their commitment to the pillars that have supported markets over the last six months: artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and precious metals,” said Tony Sycamore, IG market analyst in Sydney. “This increases the likelihood of deeper relaxation.”
Shares sold off overnight on fears that new AI models could start eating into software firms’ profits; The S&P 500 turned negative for the year as fears about the labor market grew.
Layoffs announced by U.S. employers rose to the highest level in 17 years in January, according to a survey released Thursday by global job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Precious metals have seen little respite; gold fell 1.6 per cent to $4,691.76 ($A6,720.51) and silver fell 8.9 per cent to $64,912 ($A92,980).
Cryptocurrency markets extended their losses after crossing several milestones in the US$2 trillion ($A2.9 trillion) crash on Thursday; Bitcoin fell 3.0 percent to $61,238.64 ($A87,718.71) and Ethereum fell 1.8 percent to $1,813.77 ($A2,598.06).
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