London (AFP) – Technology firms retreated further Friday after more poorly-received earnings from US titans fanned deepening concerns about the AI investment boom. Bitcoin meanwhile tumbled after Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, was hit by what analysts warned could be the biggest hack of its kind in the world.
“The end of the week is dominated by a continuation of the recent AI sell-off on disappointing earnings, and concerns about the safety of crypto,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group. AI-linked tech firms suffered steep losses after earnings from Amazon and Intel stoked further fears about the eye-watering amounts companies are pumping into artificial intelligence. “It is unlikely that the AI trade will recover on Friday, and instead the focus is shifting to the non-tech sectors of the market and safe havens,” Brooks said.
London’s tech-light FTSE 100 stock index rose 0.3 percent nearing midday, as strong earnings from drugs giant AstraZeneca and oil major BP lifted sentiment. However, shares in British bank NatWest slumped more than eight percent after its third-quarter net profit fell, underperforming rival banks. Eurozone stock markets diverged amid mixed growth data for the economic bloc.
The steep losses for tech firms Friday reversed optimism earlier in the week prompted by AI giant Anthropic’s IPO filing. The Nasdaq finished down more than one percent on Thursday and the selling extended into Asian trading, with futures contracts pointing to further Nasdaq losses Friday. South Korea’s tech-heavy Kospi index closed out its week down 3.5 percent and Tokyo finished with a 2.0-percent loss. Hong Kong, however, closed up 1.5 percent.
Focus is turning also to Tuesday’s US midterm elections and the impact they could have on the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. Oil prices climbed more than two percent Friday on renewed supply fears after Iran said four tankers hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Ahead of the Wall Street open, ExxonMobil reported that its third-quarter profits more than doubled to $15.4 billion on higher oil prices and refining margins due to the US-Iran war.
Elsewhere, bitcoin fell around two percent to $77,410 after Binance said it had fallen victim to a major hack that had impacted around $6.3 billion in funds. That is four times the amount impacted in the previous biggest-ever cyberattack of its kind, which saw $1.5 billion taken in February 2025 from the Bybit platform. The yen jumped against the dollar, with the Bank of Japan forecast to raise its benchmark interest rate again next month after holding tight at a policy meeting Friday. The move came after inflation finally reached the central bank’s two-percent target after more than a decade of fighting debilitating deflationary pressures.
The US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank also held rates steady this week, while the Bank of England is expected to raise them next Thursday as global inflation stays elevated.
– Key figures at around 1115 GMT –
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 10,751.28 points
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,983.32
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 25,881.38
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.1 percent at 63,290.11 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: DOWN 3.5 percent at 5,730.74 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.5 percent at 23,294.42 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.4 percent at 3,599.02 (close)
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 52,342.56 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.8 percent at $116.98
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.7 percent at $103.68 per barrel
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1198 from $1.1164 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3425 from $1.3365
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.12 yen from 157.92 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.39 pence from 83.54 pence
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© 2024 AFP
