Asian shares step back from record as tech jitters return, bonds rally

Asian shares retreated from record highs on Friday as worries about shrinking margins in the tech sector hit the likes of Apple, driving investors into safe-haven bonds ahead of key US inflation data.

Overnight on Wall Street, the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2% after Cisco Systems posted quarterly adjusted gross margin below estimates as costs of memory chips surged. That drove its shares down 12% and wiped out about $40 billion of its market cap.

The selloff spilled over into tech giants like Apple, which tumbled 5% in the biggest daily drop since April last year when US President Donald Trump's sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs spooked markets. Transportation companies also got caught up in worries about AI disruption.

"The prevailing tone in markets is a rotation toward more defensive areas of the equity market and companies with steady, less cyclical and more predictable earnings," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.

"It is clear that investors are viewing developments in AI and AGI through a new lens, attempting to price a future that feels more uncertain and structurally disruptive than before."

On Friday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.6%, trimming this week's gain to 4.1%. Japan's Nikkei skidded 0.9%, but was still up 5.3% for the week.

Chinese blue chips dropped 0.6% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 1.5%.

Both Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 were up 0.1%, while EURO STOXX 50 futures climbed 0.2%.

The broad selloff in stocks pushed buyers towards US. Treasuries, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note tumbling 7 basis points overnight, its biggest drop since October 10. It was steady in early Friday trade at 4.1154%.    �"AFP