Stocks Fall as Tech Selloff Extends, Oil Near $100: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks and bonds fell as doubts over returns from billions of dollars spent on artificial intelligence coincided with a surge in oil prices that rekindled inflation concerns.
MSCI’s Asia Pacific equities gauge fell 2.1%, its first decline in four days, with chip bellwethers Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. leading losses. The Kospi Index tumbled 6%. Nasdaq 100 futures erased earlier gains to drop 0.3% as sentiment weakened.
“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. A 38% jump in the commodity this month has reignited concerns about inflation, prompting traders to price in prospects for higher interest rates.
Government bonds in Japan, Australia and New Zealand all declined, while the Treasury 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 4.70% after jumping four basis points Thursday. Gold extended its drop to about $4,020 an ounce, as bets for higher interest rates made the yellow metal less appealing. Other precious metals also declined.
The jump in energy prices has compounded a tech-led market selloff as investors grapple with doubts over returns from AI spending and the prospect of more persistent inflation. Higher oil prices have complicated the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook ahead of its meeting next week, with money markets now fully pricing in a rate increase by September.
“Escalating Middle East tensions have pushed crude prices higher, raising concerns that inflation could re-accelerate and delay interest-rate relief, maybe even cause the Fed to hike,” said Sameer Samana at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “We think oil prices eventually normalize, but appreciate that things may get worse before they get better.”
The market is also contending with a spate of attacks at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast, which exports most of Kazakhstan’s crude.
Oil inventories across the globe are depleted by months of conflict, raising the risk of a supply squeeze that threatens to weigh on the global economy if prices continue to climb.
“Until recently, investors had largely assumed that tensions in the Middle East would eventually subside,” said Yugo Tsuboi, chief strategist at Daiwa Securities. “But with crude oil climbing above $90 a barrel, markets are beginning to recognize the situation warrants closer attention.”
Earlier, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde laid the groundwork for a possible rate increase in September after policymakers unanimously left the deposit rate at 2.25%.
In tariff-related news, the US will collect duties of between 10% and 12.5% on imports from most major trading partners, its biggest move yet to reconstruct Trump’s tariff wall that was pierced by the Supreme Court.
Elsewhere, the dollar edged lower on Friday, though it remained on track to post its biggest weekly gain in a month. The currency is strengthening on the back of higher oil prices and “safe haven flows,” said Moh Siong Sim, a strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.
“Next week’s FOMC meeting could also signal a Fed that is wary of inflation risks amid a backdrop of renewed oil price gain,” he said referring to the Federal Open Market Committee. “Expectations of a more hawkish Fed have also supported the dollar.”
Still, the focus remains firmly on the AI trade. Alphabet Inc. tumbled 7.1% Thursday after raising its capital-expenditure forecast, while Tesla Inc. slid 15% as profits disappointed despite strong electric-vehicle deliveries.
Alongside Alphabet, Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. telegraphed in April they’d be spending as much as $725 billion this year on AI ambitions.
“In terms of AI investment, the entire thematic is intact,” Jun Bei Liu, co-founder of hedge fund Ten Cap Investment Management, said on Bloomberg Television. “The only thing is the valuation part. The extremely expensive parts of the AI trade are going to be under a little more pressure. It is going to have to be led by earnings itself.”
Corporate Highlights:
Intel Corp. delivered a surprisingly strong revenue forecast for the current period, indicating that a surge in data center spending is helping fuel the chipmaker’s turnaround. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. announced a raft of new products for data centers that it said will outperform those from rival Nvidia Corp., aiming to make gains in a booming market for AI computing. Infosys Ltd. trimmed the upper end of its sales forecast and named a new chief executive to lead it through a prolonged period of slower technology spending. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 11:53 a.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix fell 1% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3% The Shanghai Composite fell 1% Euro Stoxx 50 futures were unchanged Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1382 The Japanese yen was little changed at 163.78 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7773 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $64,965.49 Ether fell 1.1% to $1,864.68 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.71% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.810% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced nine basis points to 5.08% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.4% to $91.85 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.5% to $4,028.91 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Abhishek Vishnoi, Alice French and Matthew Burgess.
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