Asia shares mixed as Nvidia slump weighs on Wall Street

Shares were mixed across Asia on Friday after a sharp sell-off in Nvidia dragged U.S. markets lower, marking the chipmaker’s worst trading day since last spring.

U.S. futures also declined, with investors closely watching comments from Jack Dorsey, CEO of Block, Inc., who said the company would lay off about 40% of its workforce due to efficiency gains from artificial intelligence, News.Az reports, citing AP.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1% to 58,810.03. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.8% to 26,578.03, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.3% to 4,139.53.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.6% to 6,288.40 as investors locked in recent gains. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1% to 9,184.10, while India’s BSE Sensex dropped 0.4%.

Futures for the S&P 500 declined 0.2%, and those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4%.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% to 6,908.86. The Dow rose less than 0.1% to 49,499.20, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2% to 22,878.38.

A U.S. labor market report showed a slight uptick in applications for unemployment benefits last week, though the increase was in line with economists’ expectations and remained low by historical standards.

Despite reporting another quarter of profit growth that surpassed analysts’ expectations, Nvidia’s stock fell 5.5%. The company’s revenue forecast also exceeded Wall Street estimates, but investors appeared less impressed as such strong performances have become routine.

Block’s shares rose 5% during regular trading Thursday after better-than-expected earnings and then surged more than 20% in after-hours trading following Dorsey’s announcement of roughly 4,000 layoffs from its 10,000-strong workforce.

“We believe Block will be significantly more valuable as a smaller, faster, intelligence-native company,” Dorsey wrote in a letter to shareholders. Analysts said his candid remarks about AI’s impact on jobs struck a chord with investors.

Elsewhere, Salesforce climbed 4% after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly profits. Meanwhile, Netflix jumped 9.2% in after-hours trading after withdrawing its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, citing financial concerns. That development positioned Skydance-owned Paramount Global to pursue the deal.

Warner Bros. shares slipped 0.3% after the company posted a $252 million loss for the fourth quarter.

In commodities trading, U.S. benchmark crude rose 43 cents to $65.64 per barrel, while Brent crude gained 27 cents to $71.11. Oil prices have fluctuated amid indirect talks between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program, with geopolitical tensions adding volatility to markets.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar weakened to 155.80 Japanese yen from 156.13 yen, while the euro strengthened to $1.1810 from $1.1796.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev