Markets in the Asia-Pacific region experienced declines on Friday, mirroring the downturn seen on US Market, as concerns regarding the potential disruptions caused by artificial intelligence led to the S&P 500 recording losses for the third consecutive day. Certain segments of the U.S. stock market have faced challenges this year due to the emergence of AI tools that pose a risk of automating tasks traditionally carried out by certain firms — or at the very least, jeopardizing their profit margins. Equities of various trucking and logistics companies experienced a downturn amid concerns that emerging AI technologies may significantly reduce key freight inefficiencies, resulting in diminished demand for the sector’s offerings.
Software stocks such as Palantir Technologies and Autodesk experienced declines, hindered by concerns over disruptions in recent weeks. Real estate and financial stocks experienced further declines, as commercial real estate brokers faced losses for the second consecutive day. Investors in Asia were attentive to potential spillover effects. Taiwan, a significant player in the AI sector, was closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. In Asia, Japanese and Indian IT stocks experienced declines, with Trend Micro and NS Solutions falling approximately 5.61% and 2.4%, respectively. In India, Tata Consultancy Services experienced a decline of 1.82%, whereas Infosys saw a decrease of 1.48%. Chinese technology equities experienced a decline, as Alibaba decreased by 2.14% and Baidu saw a drop exceeding 3%. Meituan experienced a decline of 3.06%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 experienced a decline of 1.21%, concluding the session at 56,941.97, following a brief ascent to 58,000 on Thursday. The Topix experienced a decline of 1.63%, settling at 3,818.85. Both indices experienced downward pressure from energy stocks. South Korea’s Kospi reversed earlier gains, declining by 0.28% to 5,507.01, thereby concluding a four-day winning streak. Meanwhile, the small-cap Kosdaq experienced a retreat of 1.77%, closing at 1,106.08. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.71% in its final hour of trade, pressured by basic materials stocks, while the mainland CSI 300 decreased by 1.25% and concluded at 4,660.41. Hong Kong-listed Zhipu AI, trading as Knowledge Atlas Technology, continued its upward trajectory on Friday, increasing by 16%, following a nearly 30% surge on Thursday. This momentum reflects growing investor enthusiasm surrounding its recently launched open-source GLM-5 model.
MiniMax experienced an increase of over 11%, building on its previous session’s gains, as enthusiasm surrounding its updated M2.5 model and improved AI agent tools sustained investor interest. Beijing Haizhi Technology Group experienced a remarkable increase of over 260% following its $97 million initial public offering. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 experienced a decline of 1.39%, settling at 8,917.6, with healthcare stocks emerging as the most significant underperformers on the index. Overnight on US Market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 1.34%, primarily driven down by Cisco Systems, which experienced a 12% drop following the company’s release of disappointing guidance for the current quarter. The S&P 500 experienced a decline of 1.57%, whereas the Nasdaq Composite recorded a loss of 2.03%.