Asian technology stocks looked set for losses Tuesday after a selloff in US chipmakers deepened, overshadowing a plunge in oil prices on hopes for diplomatic progress toward ending the war in Iran. Equity-index futures for Japan and South Korea, both heavily exposed to technology, pointed lower, while contracts for Australia advanced. In the US, a gauge of chipmakers extended a three-day rout to 12% and the Nasdaq 100 sank 10% from its peak, entering a technical correction. The S&P 500 Index fell by 0.5%.
Attention in Asia also turned to Chinese equities after the People's Bank of China said it will encourage financial institutions to make greater use of stock-support tools. In late hours, Apple Inc. posted decelerating sales growth, with China revenue missing estimates. Anthropic PBC disclosed a twelve-fold increase in quarterly revenue while outlining plans to spend more than $895 billion in the coming years.
Brent crude slumped over 8% to just over $104 a barrel as traders assessed signs of progress toward ending the conflict, a day before Americans vote in the midterm elections. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his government had been granted more authority by the country's supreme leader to pursue peace talks, while President Donald Trump hinted at progress. Yet the drop in crude has failed to revive appetite for technology shares as concerns over AI spending and stretched valuations persist.
Big technology companies also returned to US bond markets to fund their investment plans. Oracle Corp. is selling $10 billion of bonds alongside an equal amount of equity, while Meta Platforms Inc. is eyeing at least $20 billion from a potential sale in multiple currencies. Economists expect Friday's payrolls report to show job growth more than doubled to 65,000 in October, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.2%.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing