By Gregor Stuart Hunter
SINGAPORE, Feb 6 (Reuters) - 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 fell 0.9%, led by a 5% dive in South Korea's Kospi which triggered a brief trading halt shortly after the open. Japan's Nikkei 225 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 turning negative for the year as fears around the labour market grew. Layoffs announced by U.S. 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.
(Reporting by Gregor Stuart HunterEditing by Shri Navaratnam)
