Asian Stocks Poised to Track US Lower on AI Angst: Markets Wrap
Most Asian shares were set for early declines Tuesday after fresh anxiety over the impact of artificial intelligence on company profits lashed Wall Street. Treasuries and gold rallied, while Bitcoin slumped.
Equity index futures for Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong fell, along with those for mainland China which reopens after the Lunar New Year holiday period. Contracts for Australia edged higher, suggesting its bourse’s lack of technology stocks relative to peers offered a buffer from the selling pressure.
The slid 1% Monday, with tech, delivery and payment shares hit as Citrini Research laid out the potential risks to various industries. tumbled 13% in its worst day since October 2000 as Anthropic said its Claude Code can help modernize COBOL, a programming language mainly run on IBM computers.
Rising concerns over the impact of AI disruption is prompting traders to dump shares of any company seen at the slightest risk of being displaced. Those worries have also grown despite solid results from amid doubts over whether big investments in the technology will pay off soon.
“The software selloff is a reminder of what can happen when momentum-driven sectors shift into reverse,” said Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers. “The broader, more important question is: How many sectors can go into reverse before they drag the broader market along with them?”
The US 10-year yield fell five basis points to 4.03%, while the two-year dropped four basis points to around 3.44%. The inched higher as haven currencies outperformed and gold rose more than 2% to around $5,227 per ounce in a sign of defensive positioning. Bitcoin traded below $65,000.
Questions over added to the downbeat mood. After the Supreme Court’s decision Friday to nix President Donald Trump ’s “reciprocal” tariffs, the announced plans to replace the prior levies with a new, across-the-board 15% tariff on US imports. The European Union of its US trade deal amid the uncertainty.
“The push and pull with tariffs is likely to be a distracting theme for markets for the remainder of the year, albeit with less volatility than the initial shock last April,” said Michael Landsberg at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management.
In corporate news, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it expects to from net interest income this year than it had anticipated just last month, and raised its offer to buy .
In Asia, data set for release Tuesday includes China one-year and five-year loan prime rates . Key events this week include Trump’s State of the Union address later Tuesday, ’s results Wednesday and a Friday reading on producer prices . Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said his March will hinge on jobs data.
“Given the various economic risks and uncertainties that can be linked to the tariff drama, we expect the Fed’s wait-and-see approach to be reinforced,” said Ian Lyngen at BMO Capital Markets.
In commodities, with US-Iran talks set to resume this week against a backdrop of massed American forces in the Middle East. Copper as traders gauged demand for the metal in China given US tariff uncertainty.
Corporate Highlights:
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
Currencies
Cryptocurrencies
Bonds
Commodities
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
