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Stock markets have fallen amid concern about the prospects for tech stocks, while oil prices have risen after renewed conflict in the Middle East dampened hopes that the strait of Hormuz would soon reopen.
Markets in Asia and Europe fell on Monday after a sharp sell-off in US tech stocks late last week, as investors fretted over how firms at the forefront of the artificial intelligence boom would fund their “eye-watering” spending plans.
Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, rose by nearly 5% to $97.60 a barrel on Monday as Iran and Israel exchanged fire after an Israeli strike on Beirut.
But Brent then fell back to $94.60 a barrel as Iran announced it was halting military operations against Israel, after Donald Trump called for both sides to “immediately stop shooting”.
In Asia, a region heavily dependent on oil imports, stock markets dropped sharply on Monday. The South Korean Kospi index slumped by nearly 9% at one point, forcing trading to be briefly suspended. The fall was led by the chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose share prices dropped by 9% and 6% respectively.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped by 1.5%. In London, the FTSE 100 opened down 0.4%, with the jet engine maker Rolls-Royce and British Airways’ parent company, IAG, among the biggest fallers. Shares in the oil companies BP and Shell rose.
Stock markets in Germany, France and Spain also fell, before recovering some losses after Iran declared a halt to military operations against Israel.
US markets opened higher on Monday, recovering some of their losses on Friday. The S&P 500 share index gained 1% in early trading, as chip shares led the recovery.
Shares in European companies at the heart of the AI boom fell sharply at the start of trading. Chip firms such as Besi – BE Semiconductor Industries – was down 4.5% and ASML fell by 3.2%, and were among the big fallers on the pan-European Stoxx 600 index, which is down by almost 0.9%.
The German tech firm Aixtron has dropped almost 6%, while Finland’s telecoms firm Nokia fell 5%.
The declines on Monday followed a steep sell-off in tech stocks at the end of last week, when the tech-heavy Nasdaq index lost nearly 5% of its value. The US blue chip S&P 500 index also dropped 2% on a weekly basis, ending nine weeks of gains.
Investors are growing more nervous about the valuation of AI stocks, especially amid the rising prospect of higher inflation and interest rates this year.
Susannah Streeter, the chief investment strategist at the broker Wealth Club, said markets were now pricing in a greater likelihood of an interest rate rise from the Federal Reserve this year.
“Fears of higher interest rates come just as tech giants, which have some of the deepest cash pockets, are seeking fresh funding to help finance eye-watering capital expenditure plans,” she said. “The demand is voracious right now, but there is concern that assets being invested in today, at a time when the technology is so expensive, could become obsolete further down the road.”
Charu Chanana, the chief investment strategist at the investment bank Saxo, said: “The market is becoming more selective on AI. Investors now want clearer proof of earnings delivery, monetisation, capex discipline and funding returns. This looks more like a positioning reset than a regime break. The AI story is not over, but easy AI enthusiasm may be.”
The rise in Brent crude, which had fallen as low as $93 a barrel last week, followed the first exchange of direct strikes between Iran and Israel since a ceasefire paused the war in April.
Fears are growing that the clashes could escalate and prevent the reopening of the strait of Hormuz, a significant shipping channel through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply normally flows.
Donald Trump, speaking to the Financial Times before the Israeli strikes on Iran, said he would dictate to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, how the war should be conducted.
However, after the Israeli bombing in Beirut and Iran’s retaliation, Trump told Fox News that Israel’s strikes in Lebanon had not been coordinated with the US and that he was “not happy about it”.
