World shares mostly decline, hit by heavy selling of AI-related shares

Global shares mostly declined on Wednesday as heavy selling of AI-related stocks hit markets, with South Korea's Kospi dropping 5.8% to 6,471.17 and Samsung Electronics shedding 7.8%, while SK Hynix tumbled 9.8%. The declines were driven by concerns that AI stocks have risen too high, compounded by rising oil prices and bond yields, with the Nikkei 225 sinking 3.2% to 65,326.42 and the Shanghai Composite shedding 2.4% to 3,894.42.

BANGKOK AP — Shares declined in Europe and Asia on Wednesday as artificial intelligence-related stocks https://apnews.com/article/tech-stocks-ai-investments-8a0ff4c95d5cae6f65c6e2ba03047058 were hit by heavy selling. Germany's DAX shed 0.2% to 26,085.69, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.3% to 8,532.16. Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% to 10,707.36. The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were nearly unchanged. South Korea's Kospi led the declines in Asia, dropping 5.8% to 6,471.17. The two biggest Korean companies benefiting from the AI boom tracked losses for their U.S. rivals. Samsung Electronics shed 7.8%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix tumbled 9.8%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 sank 3.2% to 65,326.42 as worries over rising bond yields coupled with selling of tech shares pulled the benchmark lower. The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds has been trading near a three-decade high of over 2.9% due to expectations that the Bank of Japan will soon raise its benchmark rate to counter inflation. The Shanghai Composite index shed 2.4% to 3,894.42. Shares in Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree https://apnews.com/article/china-robots-unitree-ipo-shanghai-f33facc61122faf0c0b08af5020bd170 soared nearly 630% initially in their trading debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Nasdaq-like STAR market. The company reaped about $900 million with its initial public offering. Its shares closed 460% higher. Shares in UBTech, another major Chinese humanoid robot maker, whose stock is traded in Hong Kong, fell 10.7%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.1% to 25,495.07. Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.3%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 9,053.80. Apart from renewed jitters over criticism that AI-related stocks have shot too high, rising oil prices have been clouding market sentiment. Crude prices have been swinging sharply due to uncertainty about when and whether the United States and Iran https://apnews.com/hub/iran can reach a deal to allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf freely again. Brent was going for $72.87 per barrel just before the start of the war. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.8% to $91.78 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 1% to $84.86 per barrel On Tuesday, Wall Street pulled further from its all-time high https://apnews.com/article/stock-markets-ai-semiconductors-fed-energy-3a23f22469cd0e0062f711096906525c . The S&P 500 fell 0.7% for a third straight modest loss https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-futures-rates-oil-japan-bf398d5a01f611921c0b48a8bfc884d9 . The Dow industrials dipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.3%. Stocks that have been big winners in the boom around AI https://apnews.com/hub/artificial-intelligence technology led the decline. They've been veering up https://apnews.com/article/stock-markets-ai-oil-iran-trump-30c42bb51683c4b43c9f64dfeff7a3ea and down https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-ai-oil-trump-rates-b8bfaf782877957bbaa7196b70a4d725 this summer on worries that their prices have shot too high and that the strong demand for memory, processors and other building blocks of data centers may fizzle if AI proves less profitable than promised.