Tech shares slumped in Asia on Friday and U.S. Treasury yields fell as investors worried that AI spending may not deliver adequate returns, Reuters reported from Singapore. CNBC reported that Alphabet closed 13% lower on Thursday, its worst single-day drop in history. Reuters said the shares slid a little further after hours, wiping out about $500 billion in market value.
Premarket moves in U.S. trading were larger. Reuters reported at 4:04 AM ET that Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 2.16%, with Amazon down 7.2% and Intel down 25% in premarket trading. Yahoo Finance reported at 7:00 AM ET that Nasdaq 100 futures were down 2% and S&P 500 futures 1%; its quote page showed the Nasdaq 100 contract down about 2.5% at about 7:30 AM ET. CNBC said chip stocks including Micron, Nvidia and Arm were lower in premarket trading.
In Asia, South Korea’s KOSPI fell more than 3%, for a drop of nearly 16% in October, and Japan’s Nikkei fell more than 2%, Reuters reported. Pepperstone analyst Chris Weston told Reuters the market is “increasingly questioning whether shareholders will earn an adequate return on the enormous capital being deployed.”
Asian chip-supply-chain companies said AI-related demand remained strong, Reuters reported. Tokyo Electron forecast an 87% jump in operating profit to 1.17 trillion yen ($7.41 billion), which Reuters called stronger than expected, and said it would spend up to 150 billion yen to buy back about 25 million shares. “In the various conversations we are having with our customers, interest is very strong,” Chief Financial Officer Hiroshi Kawamoto said. Its shares closed down 5% ahead of the results. Reuters said SK Hynix, TSMC and Advantest were among the stocks under pressure.
Foxconn Chairman Young Liu told reporters Friday that AI was not in a bubble and that the company expects to maintain double-digit growth next year, Reuters reported. Liu said he had met OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman earlier that day and that there would be an announcement once details were confirmed. Reuters described a collaboration with OpenAI as in the works, with details scant; Liu did not elaborate.
More on the earnings: Alphabet’s unsold TPU systems, Amazon’s AWS sales and cash outflow and Intel’s data center and AI revenue.
Sources
- Reuters: Stocks sink, bonds leap as AI giants spending spooks investors (Singapore, October 30, 2026; copy on investing.com)
- Reuters: Nasdaq futures tumble as Amazon, Intel results deepen AI spending woes (October 30, 2026, 4:04 AM ET data; copy on investing.com)
- Reuters: Asia chip firms see strong AI demand; market jitters continue (Tokyo/Taipei, October 30, 2026; copy on MarketScreener)
- Reuters: Foxconn teases new OpenAI deal after Sam Altman meeting, says AI boom is no bubble (Wen-Yee Lee, October 30, 2026; copy on Moneycontrol)
- Yahoo Finance: Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures fall as Amazon, Intel earnings rattle investors (updated 7:00 AM EDT, October 30, 2026)
- CNBC: Amazon, Intel shares fall after earnings amid AI spending concerns (Arjun Kharpal, October 30, 2026)
- AI Tech Daily: Alphabet CFO says unsold TPU systems now show up as inventory
- AI Tech Daily: Amazon says AWS sales rose 39% to $46.0 billion
- AI Tech Daily: Intel says data center and AI revenue rose 78% to $7.3 billion