World shares slide following an AI-led retreat on Wall Street

Key Points:

• Wall Street futures declined sharply on Friday, with the S&P 500 down 0.8%, Dow futures down 0.5%, and Nasdaq futures dropping 1.6%, led by a sell-off in chipmakers and AI-related stocks due to concerns over inflated valuations and uncertain AI demand.
• Major chipmakers including Micron, Nvidia, Broadcom, Qualcomm, and Intel experienced premarket losses between 2% and 3.4%, while AI stocks faced pressure amid fears that new low-cost Chinese AI models could reduce demand for high-end chips.
• SpaceX shares fell 4.5% following the aborted launch of its Starship rocket, and Netflix shares plunged over 11% after issuing a quarterly revenue forecast below analyst expectations despite better-than-expected Q2 profits.
• Asian markets also declined sharply, with Taiwan down 6.5% after TSMC announced a $100 billion U.S. investment, Tokyo’s Nikkei falling 4%, and significant drops in chip-related stocks and SoftBank Group; Hong Kong and Shanghai markets also saw notable losses.
• Oil prices surged to near one-month highs amid escalating U.S. airstrikes on Iranian infrastructure, raising fears of disruptions to crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent crude rising 2% to $85.95 per barrel and U.S. crude up 2.3% to $80.88 per barrel.