Tech Sell-Off Visits Asian Stock Markets

Asian stock markets largely lost ground on Friday, as tech shares retreated on concerns that hefty corporate outlays on AI infrastructure may not yield expected returns.

Shares in Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) fell 12.6% Thursday after the US-based tech colossus reported relatively tempered revenue but mounting capital outlays.

Exchanges in Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the red, although Hong Kong bucked the trend to advance. Other regional trading floors were mixed on the downside.

Brent crude futures rose 2.4% to $113.52 a barrel during Asian market hours.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower on Wall Street cues and finished down 2.1%, as the tech-sector rollercoaster turned down after Thursday declines in US peers.

A decision by the Bank of Japan to hold its key policy rate unchanged at 1.25% appeared to have little impact on equity values.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 1,369.36 to 63,290.11, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 119 to 105.

Leading the upside was video game maker Konami, up 15%, while IT giant Fujitsu declined 16.2%, with both moves following earnings releases.

In economic news, the Tokyo core consumer price index in October rose 2.6% on the year in October, the Statistics Bureau reported.

Retail sales in Japan rose 2.3% on year in September, the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI) reported.

The nation's industrial production rose 1.9% on year in September, METI reported.

Japan's unemployment rate fell to 2.4% in September from 2.5% in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications reported.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly and rose to the close, and traders moved into bank and property issues.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 335.77 to 23,294.42, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 74 to 20. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.3% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 2.7%. The Mainland Banks Index rose 1.6%.

Leading the upside was China Mengniu Dairy, gaining 9.4%, while computer-maker Lenovo declined 7.4%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.4% to 3,599.02.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI fell 3.5%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 2.5%; the Australian ASX 200 rose 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.4%, and the Thai Set declined 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.4%.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 1.1% on the day.