Global stocks slip as AI doubts extend tech selloff

Friday, 16 October 2026 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Global equities edged lower on Thursday as concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) spending and higher interest rates prolonged a selloff in technology and chip stocks, with MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe slipping 0.19%.

Investors have grown uneasy about the valuations of companies in the AI ecosystem as doubts mount over the sustainability of demand for data centres.

Asia bore the brunt of the rout. South Korea’s KOSPI index, whose cluster of leading chipmakers had made it one of the main beneficiaries of the AI rally, plunged almost 8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell nearly 5%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 3.04% lower, its steepest one-day fall since late July.

Wall Street presented a more mixed picture. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.23% and the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index was last down 2%. The benchmark S&P 500, however, recovered from early losses to rise 0.16%, led by healthcare and materials stocks, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.07%. European stocks also shook off early losses to finish 0.33% higher.

In the bond market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note fell 10.29 basis points (a basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point) to 5.087%, its biggest daily decline in more than a year.

In currency markets, the dollar eased from an 18-month high. It slipped 0.1% against the yen to 158.14 yen, while the euro rose 0.42% to $ 1.12 and sterling gained 0.45% to $ 1.33. Oil prices reversed earlier losses, with Brent crude up 0.2% at $ 106.35 a barrel as traders weighed the impact of US sanctions relief on supply against attacks on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Spot gold rose 1.23% to $ 4,155.78 an ounce.