Asian shares sink after losses for Big Tech pull US stocks lower

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BANGKOK (AP) — Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index dipped more than 4% on Wednesday and other shares in Asia also were mostly lower after a retreat on Wall Street spurred by selling of Big Tech shares.

U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices also fell.

The Nikkei fell nearly 5% early in the session but was down 2.8% by mid-afternoon, at 50,090.33.

Shares in energy and tech giant SoftBank Group sank 9.8% on jitters over its investments in artificial intelligence. Computer chip maker Tokyo Electron dropped 4.1%, while stock in Advantest Corp., a maker of semiconductor testing equipment, lost 7.2%.

South Korea's Kospi declined 3% to 3,997.71 as Samsung Electronics shed 4.9%. SK Hynix, which had logged major gains thanks to plans to develop artificial intelligence with chip maker Nvidia, lost 2.9%.

Chinese markets were less affected. The Shanghai Composite index recovered from modest earlier losses to edge 0.2% higher, to 3,967.53. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.3% to 25,888.16.

Investors took fright from heavy selling of high tech related shares overnight on Wall Street. The technology sector has been driving gains this year, and huge values for companies including Nvidia and Microsoft give them outsized influence over the broader market’s direction.

“The rally that began in April is finally feeling its age. What we are seeing today wasn’t just a dip; it was a full-scale reality check,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

“This wasn’t the usual intraday shake-out. It felt more like the oxygen suddenly thinning at the top of a mountain that everyone assumed had no summit,” he said.

Palantir Technologies, which had more than doubled so far this year, fell 7.9% despite reporting results that beat analysts’ forecasts. Nvidia also reversed course from a day earlier, falling 4%, while Microsoft fell 0.5%.

Other sectors also declined, leading the S&P 500 to fall 1.2% to 6,771.55. The index set its most recent all-time high last week, and is still up more than 15% for the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 47,085.24. The technology heavy Nasdaq fell 2% to 23,348.64.

Wall Street remains focused on corporate earnings. Roughly three out of every four companies within the S&P 500 have reported their latest results, and most have been better than analysts expected.

Uber slumped 5.1% despite reporting financial results that beat analysts' expectations.

Several big companies will report their latest financial results later this week, including McDonald's, Expedia Group and Qualcomm.

The latest round of corporate profit reports and forecasts have taken on more significance for Wall Street due to the U.S. government shutdown. Investors and economists are trying to gauge the health and direction of the U.S. economy without the latest economic updates on inflation and employment.

The lack of timely economic data has also left the Federal Reserve without many of the resources it needs to make decisions on interest rate policy. The latest data showed consumer prices rose 3% in September, the highest increase since January. At the same time, hiring has stalled. That mix of conditions puts the U.S. Federal Reserve in a tough position. Cutting rates to help the economy endure a weakening job market could also result in hotter inflation.

Outside of earnings, Tesla fell 5.1% after Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, one of the electric car maker’s biggest investors, said Tuesday that it will vote against a proposed compensation package that could pay CEO Elon Musk as much as $1 trillion over a decade.

Yum Brands jumped 7.3% after the company said it is considering selling its Pizza Hut unit, which has struggled to compete in a crowded pizza market.

Novo Nordisk slipped 1.8% after it raised its offer to buy drugmaker Metsera, which jumped 20.5%. Novo Nordisk is trying to outbid rival Pfizer, which fell 1.5%.

In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 31 cents to $60.25 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 28 cents to $64.16 per barrel.

The dollar fell to 153.33 Japanese yen from 153.63 yen. The euro rose to $1.1493 from $1.1488.

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AP Business Writer Damian J. Troise contributed.