Asian shares follow Wall Street lower as AI worries drag tech stocks lower

Article contentBANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares slipped further on Thursday after declines for AI stocks dragged the U.S. market to its worst day in nearly a month.Sign In or Create an AccountEmail AddressContinueor View more offersArticle contentTraders are waiting for an update on U.S. inflation, and on a decision Friday by Japan’s central bank on interest rates. The Bank of Japan is expected to raise its key rate by 0.25 percentage point to tamp down price pressures, despite a contraction in the July-September quarter.Article contentWe apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Article contentTokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.2% to 48,929.95, with technology shares leading the decline.Article contentArticle contentComputer chip maker Tokyo Electron lost 3.5% while chip testing equipment maker Advantest dropped 4.1%.Article contentTop StoriesGet the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.There was an error, please provide a valid email address.Sign UpBy signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.Thanks for signing up!A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againInterested in more newsletters? Browse here.Article contentHonda Motor Corp. fell 2.9% after reports said it was suspending production at some plants in Japan and China due to shortages of computer chips.Article contentSouth Korea’s Kospi sank 1.8% to 3,989.06, also pulled lower by selling of shares in electronics companies and automakers. LG Electronics declined 4.3%, while Samsung Electronics lost 1.6%.Article contentChinese markets were mixed as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.4% to 25,357.64, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% higher, to 3,876.40.Article contentIn Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 8,575.50.Article contentLater Thursday, the U.S. government will report on inflation last month. Economists expect that report to show prices for U.S. consumers continue to rise faster than anyone would like.Article contentOn Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 1.2% to 6,721.43 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.5% to 47,885.97. The Nasdaq composite dropped 1.8% to 22,693.32.Article contentSlightly more stocks rose within the S&P 500 than fell, but they got drowned out by the drops for companies in the artificial-intelligence industry.Article contentArticle contentThe sector is being pressured by questions over whether Big Tech companies’ share prices have shot too high, whether all the investment in AI will be profitable and productive enough to justify the costs, and by worries over stratospheric levels of debt some companies are taking on to pay for it all.Article contentBroadcom dropped 4.5%, Oracle fell 5.4% and CoreWeave sank 7.1%. Nvidia, the chip company that’s become Wall Street’s most influential stock because of its tremendous size, fell 3.8% and was the day’s heaviest weight on the S&P 500.Article contentPower companies that jumped earlier in the year on expectations for stronger demand from electricity-sucking data centers also lost some of their shine. Constellation Energy fell 6.7%.Article contentOn the winning side of Wall Street were oil companies, after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela.Article contentThat sent the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude higher by 1.2% to $55.94. just a day after it sank to its lowest level since 2021.Article contentEarly Thursday, U.S. crude was up 43 cents at $56.24 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 40 cents to $60.08 per barrel. It had climbed 1.3% on Wednesday.Trending Is a $2.75 million portfolio enough for Halifax empty nesters to retire early?

Personal Finance World watches as Ottawa's bullish shift on LNG puts wind at the back of two major projects Oil & Gas Trump Official Signals Support for Trade Deal With Canada, Mexico PMN Business Canada's population declines for the first time since the pandemic News So long, labour shortage: job vacancies continue to decline in Canada Work Article contentThat in turn helped ConocoPhillips rise 4.6%. Devon Energy rallied 5.3%, and Exxon Mobil climbed 2.4%.Article contentOil prices have been falling for most of this year on expectations that companies are pumping more than enough crude to meet the world’s demand.Article contentNetflix added 0.2% after Warner Bros. Discovery’s board said it still recommends shareholders approve a buyout offer from the streaming giant for its Warner Bros. business, rather than a competing hostile bid from Paramount Skydance for the entire company.Article contentWarner Bros. Discovery fell 2.4%, while Paramount Skydance dropped 5.4%.Article contentIn other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar rose to 155.75 Japanese yen from 155.70 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1740 from $1.1743.Article contentShare this article in your social networkCommentsYou must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.Create an AccountSign in Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Is a $2.75 million portfolio enough for Halifax empty nesters to retire early?

Personal Finance World watches as Ottawa's bullish shift on LNG puts wind at the back of two major projects Oil & Gas Trump Official Signals Support for Trade Deal With Canada, Mexico PMN Business Canada's population declines for the first time since the pandemic News So long, labour shortage: job vacancies continue to decline in Canada Work