Asian stocks retreat as tech concerns weigh
Asian stock markets fell on Friday as renewed concerns over heavy investment in artificial intelligence weighed on sentiment, while gold and silver retreated from record highs and oil prices eased on hopes of reduced tensions between the United States and Iran.
Markets have experienced sharp swings this week, driven by a weaker dollar, renewed tariff warnings, threats by U.S. President Donald Trump toward Iran, and concerns over a potential U.S. government shutdown, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Earlier optimism around the technology sector had offered some support, helped by solid earnings from major firms including Meta, Samsung and SK hynix. However, sentiment deteriorated after Microsoft announced a sharp increase in spending on AI infrastructure, reviving fears that returns on such investments could take longer than expected.
Investors are also increasingly concerned that company valuations may be overstretched after years of a tech-driven rally to record highs, raising the risk of a market bubble.
“Microsoft suffered its worst session since the COVID-era crash, falling 12 percent and accounting for over two-thirds of the S&P 500’s decline,” said Rodrigo Catril of National Australia Bank. He cited worries over rising capital expenditure, slower growth in Microsoft’s Azure cloud business, and a longer path to monetising AI investments.
Wall Street closed mostly lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average the only major index to post gains.
Asian markets followed suit, with declines in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei and Bangkok. Seoul, Manila and Wellington ended higher. Jakarta rebounded after two days of losses triggered by comments from index compiler MSCI, which urged regulators to address ownership transparency concerns.
MSCI warned that failure to make sufficient progress by May 2026 could lead to a reduction in Indonesia’s weighting in MSCI Emerging Markets indexes or even a reclassification of the country from emerging to frontier market status.
Gold prices slipped to around $5,150 an ounce after hitting a peak above $5,595 a day earlier, while silver fell to about $108 from a high of more than $121. The pullback was partly attributed to a modest rebound in the dollar, after it weakened on signals that Trump was comfortable with a softer currency despite inflation risks.
Oil prices also declined, down more than one percent, after surging the previous day. Investors are closely watching developments in the Middle East following Trump’s decision to deploy an “armada” to the region and warn Iran of possible strikes if it fails to reach a new nuclear agreement. Despite the latest pullback, concerns remain that any escalation in the oil-rich region could sharply push prices higher and fuel inflation.
In Washington, the US Senate moved closer to a vote on a funding deal aimed at avoiding a government shutdown, after a tense standoff linked to Trump’s immigration crackdown. Current government funding is set to expire at midnight on Friday.
By Nijat Babayev
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