A selloff in artificial-intelligence stocks accelerated after a fresh batch of quarterly results rocked market confidence, as investors seeking a safe place to park their cash pushed Treasury yields to multiweek lows.
Nasdaq futures fell more than 2.5% and S&P 500 futures were down 1.1%.
The moves were enough to spook an already nervous market. South Korea's semiconductor-heavy Kospi closed 3.5% lower, while Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 2.1%. Shanghai-listed stocks also fell. AI-linked stocks dropped across Europe, with ASML--an Intel supplier--down by close to 6%.
This week's big tech earnings results show "AI is no longer universally good news, and AI spending is being punished, not rewarded," said Amati Global Investors fund manager Mikhail Zverev.
Digital coins slid after cryptocurrency exchange Binance said it had suffered the largest heist in crypto history, with hackers making off with assets worth $6.3 billion. Bitcoin fell 1.5% to trade below $78,000, while ether fell by a similar amount to trade around $2,200.
Treasurys strengthened as investors ditched risk. Ten-year Treasury yields fell sharply to trade just above 4.920%, while 30-year yields hovered around 5.290%. Two-year yields sank back to levels last seen in early September, trading below 4.600% as investors trimmed their expectations for a December Federal Reserve rate hike.
Oil prices jumped, adding to the risk-off mood. Brent crude contracts for December--which expire Friday--rose over 2% to trade around $117.50 a barrel, while contracts for January delivery traded around $113.50.
The dollar slipped and gold briefly fell below $4,000 a troy ounce, before paring some losses.
For the day ahead, investors will react to eurozone inflation data and U.S. third-quarter employment cost index. Earnings results will be coming from ExxonMobil and Chevron, among others.
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