Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 52.2 points or 0.8% to 6,802 after the first 30 minutes of Thursday's trade, following a significant drop in the US market driven by major technology companies.
ASX 200 Futures were down by 0.4%, while Nikkei 225 Futures also indicated a potential dip at the opening.
In North America, shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), and other tech companies led to the Nasdaq Composite falling into correction territory, with a 2.4% slide. This decline pulled the index down over 10% from its recent high, marking one of its worst one-day declines of the year. The S&P 500 fell 1.4%, closing at its lowest level since May, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 105 points, or 0.3%.
Alphabet's shares dropped nearly 10% after the company reported a disappointing growth rate in its cloud business for the quarter. This resulted in the company losing over $166 billion in market value, marking its biggest one-day loss ever. Shares of Amazon.com, Nvidia, fintech company Affirm, and payments company Block also fell sharply.
The recent decline in tech stocks punctures a year-long rally, with many investors betting on big tech stocks benefiting from artificial intelligence-related innovations. However, the excitement is fading during a busy week of third-quarter earnings results and one of the worst bond routs in recent memory.
In the commodity markets, Brent crude oil rose 2.3% to US$89.99 a barrel, while gold remained steady at US$1,982.4. The yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was higher at 4.37%, with the 10 Year yield also up at 4.78%. US Treasury notes were mixed, with the 2 Year yield flat at 5.13% and the 10-Year yield up at 4.95%.
The Australian dollar was at 0.3% lower at 0.6292 US cents while the US Dollar Index was stronger at 106.6.
In Asia, Chinese shares ended mostly higher, boosted by China's additional CNY1 trillion central government bond issuance. However, CreditSights analysts noted that a steady improvement in economic data and a more visible recovery of the property sector would be needed to sustain the positive impact of the policy stimulus measures.
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Hong Kong shares ended higher, snapping a four-session losing streak as consumer and tech sectors gained. Japanese stocks also ended higher, led by gains in automakers and trading houses as concerns about the Middle East conflict recede for now. India's Sensex, however, fell 0.8% to close at 64049.06, reversing earlier gains.
In Europe, stocks mostly rose as banks and financial stocks gained following sector results. The DAX edged 0.1% higher and the CAC 40 advanced 0.3%, though the pan-European STOXX 600 traded broadly flat. The FTSE 100 closed up 0.3% on Wednesday, helped by China's plans to increase infrastructure spending to boost its economy.