Asian shares retreat as Alphabet slide weighs on Nasdaq futures
Samsung Electronics shares fell more than 4% despite reporting record quarterly operating profit, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 2.6%.
Asian equities turned lower on Oct 29, reversing earlier advances as technology earnings drew contrasting market reactions. Alphabet lost 10% in after-hours trading amid heavy cash burn, pulling Nasdaq futures down 1% ahead of results from Amazon and Intel.
MSCI’s broad Asia-Pacific share index excluding Japan declined 0.7%. Japan’s Nikkei retained a 0.3% gain after paring its advance. Chinese mainland blue chips slipped 0.9%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2%.
Samsung Electronics reported that third-quarter operating profit reached a record after rising nearly ninefold, supported by strong AI chip demand. Its share decline weighed on the Kospi, which had surged nearly 7% in the preceding session. SK Hynix gained 1.3%, following an 11% jump on strong earnings.
Microsoft shares rose 3% after the company exceeded forecasts and delivered stronger-than-expected cash flows. Jamie Hannah, VanEck’s deputy head of investments, said Alphabet and Microsoft continued to show solid AI revenue generation through their data centre and cloud businesses.
The Federal Reserve left rates unchanged, although two members favoured an increase. Chair Kevin Warsh’s greater confidence about inflation helped lift Treasury prices. Markets were still pricing an 80% chance of a December rate rise, with September US personal consumption expenditures data the next focus.
