Symbolic imageChip stocks rebound after AI-debt rout, but financing worries persist
US stock futures and semiconductor shares recovered on Monday after the sharpest weekly selloff in months. Worries about AI financing remain.
Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.3% on Monday, 19 October, according to the Financial Times, after the biggest weekly drop since the "liberation day" tariffs in April last year. Handelsblatt, citing Bloomberg data, reports that US chipmakers lost more than a trillion dollars within a week, and ING calls it an "AI correction". Bloomberg reports that the slide in Samsung and SK Hynix cost Korea's pension fund $137 billion. Handelsblatt lists doubts that AI revenues can justify the spending, rising depreciation on short-lived hardware and higher bond yields that make AI investment costlier.
Asia divided
China's third-quarter GDP grew 4.5%, beating expectations and lifting many Asian markets, but credit worries in the tech sector capped gains, Handelsblatt reports. Japanese tech shares fell, and Japan's central bank chief Kazuo Ueda said core inflation is near the 2% target and strong AI demand adds to price pressure.
Microsoft exit and positioning
The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft pulled out of a UK data-center deal with Nscale over power-supply issues. Bloomberg headlines say hedge funds cut tech at the fastest pace in a decade, according to Goldman, while Morgan Stanley's Wilson tells investors to get ready to buy.