South Korea's Kospi falls 5%, other stocks tumble as AI rout deepens, silver hammered

Asian stocks extended losses into a second day in early trading on Friday as a selloff on Wall Street intensified, with precious metals and cryptocurrencies gripped by wrenching volatility.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, opens new tab fell 0.9%, led by a 5% dive in South Korea's Kospi, opens new tab which triggered a brief trading halt shortly after the open. Japan's Nikkei 225, opens new tab shed 0.7%, while S&P 500 e-mini futures slid 0.6% as Nasdaq e-mini futures tumbled 1.1%.

"Investors are questioning their commitment to the pillars that have underpinned markets over the past six months: AI, crypto, and precious metals," said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney. "This raises the odds of a deeper unwind."

Stocks sold off overnight on fears that new AI models may start to eat into the profits of software firms, with the S&P 500, opens new tab turning negative for the year as fears around the labour market grew.

Layoffs announced by US employers surged in January to the highest level for the month in 17 years, a survey from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed on Thursday.

Precious metals saw little respite, with gold falling 1.6% to $4,691.76, and silver plunging another 8.9% to $64.912.

Cryptocurrency markets extended also losses after breaching several milestones in a $2 trillion wipeout on Thursday, with bitcoin tumbling 3% to $61,238.64 and ether down 1.8% at $1,813.77.

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