Asian stocks dropped, followed losses in US equities, as investors sold tech shares amid concern valuations have become excessive. Oil trimmed gains after US President Donald Trump avoided adding to geopolitical angst in a television address. MSCI’s regional equity benchmark slid 0.7%, with South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average both dropping more than 1%. That was after the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slipped 1.9% Wednesday with Nvidia Corp. slid 3.8% to its lowest since September. The S&P 500 declined 1.2%, breaching its 50-day moving average. Gold and silver steadied in Asia after jumping on Wednesday as investors sought alternatives to government bonds and key currencies. US stock futures edged higher after Micron Technology Inc., the largest US maker of computer memory chips, gave an upbeat forecast late Wednesday. The selloff in tech is a further sign investors are further questioning whether companies at the vanguard of the artificial intelligence boom can keep justifying their expensive valuations and ambitious spending. Concerns over the cost and viability of data center expansion, such as Oracle Corp.’s financing plans in Michigan, fueled broader unease about the sector’s outlook. Global oil benchmark Brent trimmed earlier gains after Trump refrained from mentioning recent developments in Venezuela during an address from the White House. Washington imposed a blockade on sanctioned tankers from Venezuela this week, with Trump accusing Caracas of taking away US “energy rights.” Gold held near a record high after climbing 0.8% on Wednesday as investors tracked mounting tensions in Venezuela and waited for US inflation data. Bullion has jumped nearly two-thirds this year and is on track for its best annual performance since 1979. Oracle shares tumbled more than 5% in New York after the Financial Times reported Blue Owl Capital Inc. wouldn’t back a $10 billion deal for a data center in Michigan. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is now down more than 5% from its recent peak. Selling of tech shares combined with dovish comments from a Federal Reserve official helped boost two- and five-year Treasuries in US trading. The benchmark 10-year yield dropped one basis point to 4.14% on Thursday. Bloomberg’s dollar index was little changed. In Asia, the yen edged higher against the dollar with the Bank of Japan expected to raise interest rates Friday to the highest level in three decades. The recent volatility that has spread across a number of asset classes suggests traders may be in for a busy holiday season, when thin liquidity can exacerbate market moves. A clearer narrative has emerged in recent weeks: the mega-cap technology stocks that have powered this bull run may be losing their ability to carry the market on their own, according to Fawad Razaqzada at Forex.com. New Zealand’s economy rebounded more than economists had forecast in the third quarter, with falling interest rates helping drive output after a second-quarter contraction. China Vanke Co., once the nation’s biggest homebuilder, lurched closer toward what would be one of the country’s largest-ever debt restructurings. Among key events for financial markets Thursday are the release of US inflation data for November, along with monetary policy decisions from the European Central Bank and Bank of England. US After Hours MU +8.1% and MLKN +8.8% sharply higher on earnings; BP +0.3% on CEO transition news; EPAC -7.8% lower on earnings.
Nikkei -1.03% Hang Seng -0.33% CSI -0.50% Shanghai +0.25% Shenzen -0.52%
Eur$ 1.1743 CNH 7.0366 CNY 7.0422 JPY 155.75 GBP 1.3370 CHF 0.7953 RUB 80.4563 TRY 42.7328 WTI$ 56.34 +0.72% Gold 4;336 -0.05% BTC 86,590 +0.74% ETH 2,826 +0.29% SOL 122.6381 +0.20%
S&P +0.11% Nasdaq +0.33% EuroStoxx -0.04% FTSE -0.05% Dax -0.17% SMI +0.03%
Macro :
- Isaacman Wins Senate Vote to Become Trump’s NASA Chief
- Hedge Fund Qube to Take Six UBS Floors in Hong Kong’s Central
- Binance Weighs US Strategy as Billionaire Zhao Regains Clout
- Uniformed Armed Guards Spotted On Russian 'Shadow Fleet' Vessels Off Europe - Zero Hedge
- EU holds crunch summit on Russian asset plan for Ukraine
Keep an eye on :
- AC FP : Accor Delays Launch of €100m Buyback Program From 4Q25 to 1Q26
- AENA SM : Aena Buys Leeds Bradford, Newcastle Airports Stakes for £270M, InfraBridge to Sell Majority Stakes in Leeds, Newcastle Airports
- ALM SM : Almirall Finalizes EUR250 Million Senior Notes Issue
- AMZN US : Amazon Withdrew Fermi Project Funds, Business Insider Says
- AMS SW : AMS-Osram Seeks to Buy Back Up to €300m in 2027 Convertibles
- AVOL SW : Avolta awarded Shanghai Pudong International Airport concession, marking a first-in-a-generation duty-free win for an internatio
- BDT GY : Bertrandt FY Ebit Loss EU35.5M, Est. Loss EU32.6M
- BP/ LN : BP Makes O’Neill First Female Big Oil CEO in Bid for Revival
- DNO NO : DNO Agrees North Sea Oil Offtake Deals With Exxon, Shell
- EGTX SS : Egetis Therapeutics to Move to Nasdaq Stockholm's Mid Cap Segment
- ERICB SS : Ericsson Activates AIR 3255 Massive MIMO Radios In DOCOMO's 5G Network Supporting High Traffic Demand And Improved Spectrum
- EBS AV : Erste Gets Polish Regulator’s Nod for €7 Billion Santander Deal
- GEV US : *GE VERNOVA SHARES FALL 11% IN BIGGEST DROP SINCE JANUARY
- GOOGL US : YouTube will stream the Oscars — exclusively — beginning in 2029 - ThechCrunch
- GRE SM : Grenergy Closes Financing With Santander for Ayora Project
- HBMN SW : Giammaria Giuliani/Mario G. Giuliani détiennent 16,33%
- HTBK US : Heritage to Merge Into Citizens in ~$811m All-Stock Deal
- ITX SM : Zara turns to AI-edited models amid shop closures
- ISS DC : ISS Expands 5-Year Contract With Financial Firm by DKK100m/Year
- ITGR US : Activist Irenic Pushing Medical-Device Maker Integer to Pursue Sale -- WSJ
- JBL US : Jabil Lifts 2026 Outlook, Sees AI-Related Revenue of $12.1b
- KOG NO : Kongsberg Gruppen Sets Additional Terms for Maritime Business Spinoff
- MDLN US : *MEDLINE SHARES JUMP 41% IN TRADING DEBUT
- B4B GY : Germany’s Metro investments in Russian stores Up 13%: Izvestia
- MU US : Micron 2Q Adjusted Revenue Forecast Beats Estimates, The Information view
- MSFT US : Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman says it will cost 'hundreds of billions' to keep up with frontier AI in the next decade
- WINE LN : Naked Wines Sees Earnings Towards the Top End of Guidance
- HOME SM : Neinor Homes Acquires 79.2% Stake in Aedas for About €740m
- NESN SW : Nestlé Waters Sued by Rival for €1.6B in French Court: Le Monde
- NESN SW : Nestlé Waters Sued by Rival for €1.6B in French Court: Le Monde
- NOVN SW : Novartis, Roche Near US Drug Price Deal as Swiss Tensions Ease
- Open AI : OpenAI Says Developers Can Submit Apps to ChatGPT
- OVS IM : OVS 3Q Adjusted Net Sales EU451.9M Vs. EU414.7M Y/y
- PIRC IM : Sinochem Hires BNP Paribas as Adviser for Pirelli: Corriere
- RBI AV : Raiffeisen Int’l CEO Strobl to Be Succeeded by Hoellerer
- RHM GY : Rheinmetall to Sell Civil Units, Lifts Outlook on Defense Boom
- ROG SW : Novartis, Roche Near US Drug Price Deal as Swiss Tensions Ease
- RWE GY : UK approves RWE plans for Five Estuaries offshore wind farm
- SIFG NA : SIF Maintains FY Adjusted Ebitda Forecast
- Space X IPO : SpaceX’s Record IPO Plan Pushes Obscure Fund Into Spotlight
- TEF SM : Telefonica to Begin Process of Delisting Shares From NYSE
- TEN IM : Tenaris Holder Techint to Sell up to 21m Shares by May 19
- 6201 JP : Elliott Woos Other Toyota Industries Investors in Buyout Fight
- UBSG SW : How a Swiss compromise could save UBS billions - FT
- 2202 HK : Vanke Meets Bondholders Under Threat of Default in Just Days
- VAR NO : Var Energi Plans 20 New Projects to Squeeze More Oil From Norway
- VWS DC : Vestas Gets 108 MW Wind Turbine Contract in Australia
- VIRB FP : Feline Hyperthyroidism: Virbac Buys Felanorm
- WBD US : Warner Demands Larry Ellison’s Personal Guarantee in Paramount Bid - WSJ & The Information
- WBD US : New York hedge fund approached by Warner shareholder to buy CNN - FT
- WHA NA : Wereldhave Nominates Marcel Eggenkamp as Chief Financial Officer
- WIHL SS : Wihlborgs Fastigheter Enters Six-year Lease Deal for Swedish Property Space