Global markets fall as investors fret about AI demand

{"text":[[{"start":7.9,"text":"Asian markets fell on Friday and US markets were set to open lower, extending a volatile week for global tech stocks."}],[{"start":14.55,"text":"Japan’s exporter-heavy Nikkei 225 tumbled as much as 5 per cent before closing 4.2 per cent lower, led by a nearly 14 per cent slide in SoftBank shares following a report that OpenAI was considering delaying its initial public offering to next year."}],[{"start":30.3,"text":"Masayoshi Son’s conglomerate holds a stake of about 13 per cent in the ChatGPT maker through its Vision Fund."}],[{"start":37.45,"text":"In South Korea, the Kospi fell as much as 9 per cent, triggering a circuit breaker, before closing down 5.8 per cent. The index is on course for its worst week since early March, shortly after the US-Iran war began. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.7 per cent and the Shanghai Composite retreated 2.3 per cent."}],[{"start":59.650000000000006,"text":"The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.4 per cent, with the technology sub-index falling 0.7 per cent in early trading."}],[{"start":69.25,"text":"Wall Street was set to open lower, with futures contracts tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 down 0.7 per cent. The broader S&P 500 was expected to fall 0.2 per cent at the open."}],[{"start":83.35,"text":"“I think this is investors rethinking inflation, rate hikes and global volatility,” said Alicia García-Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":93.8,"text":"The declines come at the end of a volatile week for global markets, which are increasingly influenced by expectations of chip and memory demand by AI hyperscalers and labs. "}],[{"start":104.14999999999999,"text":"Sentiment was also dented by Apple announcing price rises of about 20 per cent for MacBooks and iPads, one of the broadest increases in its history, citing the “unprecedented challenge” of rising memory prices. "}],[{"start":117.89999999999999,"text":"Following the announcement on Thursday, Apple shares fell 6.1 per cent, wiping more than $260bn off its market value. The decline was the company’s biggest one-day slide since early April 2025, when US President Donald Trump announced his “liberation day” tariffs."}],[{"start":135.95,"text":"Memory chipmaker Micron jumped 16 per cent on Thursday after it reported a near 15-fold surge in quarterly profit."}],[{"start":145.04999999999998,"text":"Apple’s price rise is evidence of how consumer technology companies are being affected by the surge in demand for memory and storage from data centres and the global AI infrastructure build-out amid limited supply."}],[{"start":158.85,"text":"Meanwhile, OpenAI was considering delaying its mammoth IPO until 2027, The New York Times reported, in a potential sign of growing wariness about conditions on global equity markets and investor demand for more AI exposure."}],[{"start":173.5,"text":"SoftBank, which is among OpenAI’s largest backers, was the second biggest contributor to the Nikkei 225’s fall on Friday after memory company Kioxia sank more than 11 per cent."}],[{"start":186.25,"text":"The price of Brent crude was down 2.7 per cent on Friday morning at $73.25 a barrel as ships continued to transit the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns that the vital waterway, all but closed during the Iran war, could be blocked again."}],[{"start":208.55,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1782467226_4575.mp3"}