BY COMFORT OGBONNA
U.S. futures and Asian markets mostly moved lower on Friday, mirroring Wall Street’s losses as renewed weakness in technology stocks continued to weigh heavily on global sentiment. Investors remained uneasy about the outlook for the tech sector, particularly as concerns grow over whether massive investments in artificial intelligence will deliver the returns companies are promising.
Bitcoin added to the risk-off mood, sliding sharply and erasing gains accumulated since U.S. President Donald Trump secured a second term in the White House. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell to around half of its record high, reflecting fading enthusiasm for speculative assets amid broader market uncertainty.
In Japan, stocks bucked the regional trend, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rising 0.5% to 54,073.52 as it recovered from losses earlier in the week. Technology-related shares led the advance, with SoftBank Group gaining 1.9% and chipmaker Tokyo Electron climbing 3%. Markets there were also watching domestic politics closely ahead of Sunday’s general election, in which Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is seeking a stronger mandate to push ahead with her policy agenda.
Elsewhere in Asia, losses were more pronounced. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.7% to 5,076.69, dragged down by declines in major technology names. Samsung Electronics slipped 0.9%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix lost 0.6%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.2% to 26,569.14, while China’s Shanghai Composite was little changed at 4,075.37. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 1.6% to 8,745.60, and Taiwan’s Taiex edged 0.2% lower.
The sell-off in technology stocks this week has also dampened enthusiasm for digital assets. Bitcoin was trading about 9% lower early Friday at just under $65,000, after briefly plunging more than 12% to below $64,000 a day earlier. That marks a steep decline from its October peak above $124,000, highlighting how quickly sentiment has shifted.
In the United States, futures pointed to a softer open, with S&P 500 futures down 0.3% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures off 0.2%. On Thursday, the S&P 500 dropped 1.2% to 6,798.40, marking its sixth decline in seven sessions. The Dow fell 1.2% to 48,908.72, while the Nasdaq composite slid 1.6% to 22,540.59, led lower by heavy selling in technology shares.
Chipmakers and Big Tech firms were among the hardest hit as investors reassessed lofty valuations and the scale of spending tied to artificial intelligence. Qualcomm tumbled 8.5% despite reporting better-than-expected quarterly revenue. Alphabet slipped 0.5% as attention focused on its aggressive AI investment plans. Amazon sank 11% in after-hours trading after announcing it would boost capital spending by more than 50% to roughly $200 billion, largely to fund AI and related initiatives.
Pressure on software stocks also intensified after U.S. artificial intelligence startup Anthropic unveiled new AI tools. Their growing sophistication has raised fears that many traditional software development services and products could be disrupted or even replaced, adding another layer of uncertainty for the sector.
Commodity markets were volatile as well. Gold and silver prices pulled back after months of strong gains driven by safe-haven demand linked to geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. Gold fell 1% on Friday to $4,843.70 per ounce after approaching $5,600 last week. Silver dropped 6.6% to $71.63 per ounce after rising earlier in the week, extending a sharp decline that has seen it lose more than 31% over the past week.
Oil prices edged higher in early trading. U.S. benchmark crude gained 35 cents to $63.64 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 36 cents to $67.91 a barrel, as traders balanced concerns about global demand with supply-side factors.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar eased to 156.74 Japanese yen from 157.03, while the euro strengthened slightly to $1.1789 from $1.1777, reflecting cautious positioning as investors navigated ongoing volatility across global markets.
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