Bitcoin Plummets 9% and Asian Shares Slip After Wall Street Tech Stock Losses
Asian shares traded mostly lower on Friday, extending a global market downturn driven by significant losses in technology stocks on Wall Street. In a dramatic move, Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, sank approximately 9%, wiping out all gains accumulated since U.S. President Donald Trump secured his second term in the White House.
Market Movements Across Asia
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 provided a rare bright spot, rising 0.5% to 54,073.52, with technology-related stocks like SoftBank Group and Tokyo Electron leading the recovery. This uptick comes ahead of Japan's general election on Sunday, where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi anticipates a stronger public mandate for her policies.
However, other major Asian indices faced declines. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.7% to 5,076.69, heavily impacted by tech shares, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.2% to 26,569.14, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.6% to 8,745.60. The Shanghai Composite index remained flat at 4,075.37, and Taiwan's Taiex edged down 0.2%.
Bitcoin's Sharp Decline and Wall Street's Tech Woes
Bitcoin's value dropped to just under $65,000 early Friday, marking a 9% decrease. This follows a brief plunge of over 12% to below $64,000 on Thursday, a stark contrast to its record high above $124,000 in October. The cryptocurrency's downturn reflects dimming investor enthusiasm amid broader market volatility.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 1.2% to 6,798.40 on Thursday, its sixth loss in seven days, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite also declining by 1.2% and 1.6%, respectively. Technology stocks were particularly hard hit, as concerns mount over the profitability of massive AI investments by Big Tech firms.
- Qualcomm sank 8.5% despite reporting better-than-expected quarterly revenues.
- Alphabet lost 0.5% as investors focused on its substantial AI expenditures.
- Amazon fell 11% in after-hours trading after announcing plans to boost capital spending by over 50% to $200 billion in AI and other areas.
Adding to the sell-off, American AI startup Anthropic's new tools have disrupted software stocks, threatening traditional development services and products.
Commodities and Currency Movements
Gold and silver prices exhibited volatility this week, retreating from a months-long rally as investors shifted to safe-haven assets amid elevated geopolitical tensions. Gold fell 1% on Friday to $4,843.70 per ounce, after nearing $5,600 last week. Silver dropped 6.6% to $71.63 per ounce, following a more than 31% loss last Friday.
In early Friday dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 35 cents to $63.64 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 36 cents to $67.91 a barrel. The U.S. dollar weakened to 156.74 Japanese yen from 157.03 yen, and the euro traded slightly higher at $1.1789.
AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.
