Global stock markets showed mixed performance on Wednesday after a broad sell-off in major technology stocks spread from Asia to Wall Street, while oil prices fell amid signs of progress in talks between the United States and Iran.
U.S. stock futures were mixed as investors closely watched market movements, particularly in Japan and South Korea, where stock markets had surged in recent months on the back of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom but faced sharp declines on Tuesday.
In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% to 10,417.97 in early trading. Germany’s DAX dropped 0.8% to 24,687.18, while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.2% to 8,355.36.
Asian markets delivered a mixed picture. South Korea’s Kospi index rebounded 3.3% to 8,471.02 after plunging 10% a day earlier. Shares of memory chipmaker SK Hynix rose 1%, while Samsung Electronics jumped 9.8% after suffering a 12.3% decline on Tuesday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% to 69,174.97, extending losses after a 3.6% drop in the previous session. Taiwan’s Taiex index, heavily influenced by technology stocks, declined 2.2%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.3% to 23,412.18, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1% to 4,110.81. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2% to 8,808.40.
The weakness in Asian markets followed losses on Wall Street, where the benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.4% on Tuesday. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%.
Technology and semiconductor stocks led the decline in the United States. Chipmaker Micron Technology tumbled 13.2%, while AI giant Nvidia lost more than 4%.
James Reilly, senior markets economist at Capital Economics, said the sharp swings highlighted growing volatility in technology stocks, especially in South Korea, where retail investors are playing a larger role in the market.
Meanwhile, oil prices declined as more ships resumed crossing the Strait of Hormuz and negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent end to the Iran conflict appeared to make progress.
Analysts at ING said market movements suggest investors expect oil supplies from the Persian Gulf to recover relatively quickly. However, they noted that shipping traffic through the strategic waterway remains below pre-conflict levels.
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, fell 1.6% to $75.57 per barrel. Although it has remained below $80 in recent days, prices are still higher than the roughly $70 per barrel level seen before the conflict began.
U.S. benchmark crude dropped 1.8% to $71.92 per barrel.
Investors are now awaiting Thursday’s release of the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index for May, the inflation measure most closely watched by the Federal Reserve.
Many economists expect the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged this year, although concerns about inflation, partly driven by global energy market disruptions, have kept bond yields elevated.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 161.74 Japanese yen from 161.55 yen, while the euro weakened to $1.1347 from $1.1382.