Summary:
- Asian equities are getting hammered after the New York Times reported OpenAI is leaning toward delaying its IPO until 2026, triggering a broad tech selloff across the region
- The Nikkei is down around 4.5% with SoftBank falling 12% or more, as CEO Masayoshi Son’s heavily publicised bet on OpenAI comes under pressure
- The KOSPI dropped as much as 8%, prompting Korea Exchange to activate a sidecar on KOSPI 200 futures and then call a further 20-minute trading halt after the index extended losses
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite are each down more than 2% on heavy tech selling
- US index futures are being pulled lower, with the Emini S&P 500 off 0.7% and the Emini Nasdaq 100 down 1.5%
- Oil is higher after Thursday reports of a cargo ship struck by a projectile off Oman, though Saudi Aramco’s resumption of crude loading at Ras Tanura after a near four-month halt is a countervailing supply signal
- The US dollar is modestly stronger across the board; AUD and NZD are bearing the brunt of the risk-off move; gold and silver are lower
- Chicago Fed’s Goolsbee repeated that core inflation remains too high and said services inflation is a little more disturbing
Asian equity markets are in full retreat on Friday, with a late New York Times report that OpenAI is leaning toward pushing its IPO to next year landing like a grenade across a region already on edge from geopolitical uncertainty and elevated valuations.
The Nikkei is bearing some of the sharpest pain, down around 4.5% and dragged lower by SoftBank, which has fallen 12% or more as markets reassess the timeline and terms of a listing that CEO Masayoshi Son had placed at the centre of his AI investment thesis. The OpenAI delay story is doing real damage to any stock with a direct line to that narrative.
South Korea is worse. The KOSPI dropped around 6% at one stage before extending to an 8% decline, triggering a Korea Exchange sidecar on KOSPI 200 futures after they fell 5%, followed by a further 20-minute circuit breaker trading halt as the index kept sliding. It is, by any measure, a rout. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite are each down more than 2%, with heavy tech selling the common thread.
US futures are not being spared. The Emini S&P 500 is down 0.7% and the Emini Nasdaq 100 is off 1.5%, with the tech rotation that began on Wall Street resuming with force through the Asian session.
In oil, prices are higher after reports of a cargo ship struck by a projectile off Oman, keeping Hormuz anxiety alive. Saudi Aramco’s resumption of crude loading at Ras Tanura after a near four-month halt is the constructive counterpoint, with two VLCCs seen loading and a third waiting nearby. The dollar is edging higher across the majors, with the AUD and NZD taking the hardest hit in FX as commodity prices and risk appetite slide together. Gold and silver are lower. Fed’s Goolsbee, speaking earlier in the US session, said core inflation is still too high, trending the wrong way, and described services inflation as a little more disturbing.