Asian stock markets fell on Friday, tracking declines on Wall Street as technology and artificial intelligence shares faced renewed selling pressure after disappointing earnings from major U.S. tech companies. In after-hours trading, Amazon dropped about 7% after disclosing a sharp rise in capital expenditures, while Intel slumped 23% after issuing a weaker-than-expected quarterly outlook and flagging a slowdown in the PC market.
Concerns over AI-related investments also weighed heavily on Asian markets, sparking steep losses among leading South Korean and Japanese technology firms, including Samsung Electronics (-4%), SK Hynix (-7%), Kioxia Holdings (-9%), Advantest (-8%), and SoftBank Group (-5%). South Korea’s Kospi Index fell more than 4%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost over 2%.
