HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Monday but technology stocks remained volatile, while oil prices fell more than 3%.
U.S. futures edged higher after Wall Street fell Friday to its worst day since June as investors dumped technology- and artificial intelligence-related stocks.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gave up early gains, slipping 0.1% to 63,218.02 as some major technology names fell.
Shares of OpenAI investor SoftBank Group dropped 1.8%. Japanese
memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings fell roughly 14% as its earnings forecasts disappointed some analysts and investors.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index rose 2.3% to 5,859.83. Samsung Electronics added 1.7%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix jumped 4.2%.
Technology stocks have been volatile due to growing worries that the AI buildup may prove to be a bubble.
Apple is due to report its latest earnings results later in the day. Last week, earnings reports from Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Amazon rattled markets and raised fresh questions over whether their massive AI-related spending will bring profitable returns as quickly as hoped.
Over the past month, the Nikkei 225 has fallen more than 6% and the Kospi dropped more than 16%.
Taiwan’s Taiex edged 0.2% lower, with leading chipmaker TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., shedding 1.5%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.6% to 23,437.41. The Shanghai Composite index was up 1.2% to 3,640.93, despite China reporting over the weekend that its factory activity returned to contraction territory in October as the economy slowed.
China’s central bank and its securities regulatory body were due to meet with financial institutions Monday to discuss ways to support the capital market, according to Chinese media reports.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6% to 8,851.40.
India’s Sensex rose 1.1%.
On Friday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.8% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 2.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.1%.
Investors are watching for the outcome of Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections. Voters across the political spectrum have shown increasing concerns about AI and data centers, along with inflation and other key issues.
Oil prices dropped more than 3% early Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, down 3.3% to $109.66 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude also gave up 3.3%, to $100.64 a barrel.
Iran’s top diplomat said in an interview shared on his Telegram channel over the weekend that Iranian negotiators were in Qatar for talks on a proposal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the U.S. meets several conditions. However, he said no direct talks were being held with the U.S.
The final outcome of the diplomatic efforts to avoid a return to all-out war depends on answers provided by the United States to the “Iranian questions,” he said.
In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to 157.91 Japanese yen from 157.49 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1172, up from $1.1160.
