09/10/2026 10:11 AST
Asian stocks mostly rose on Friday as traders weighed the outlook for the artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom. Oil prices fell after US President Donald Trump ruled out a pre-election strike on Iran, which also helped support markets.
Renewed optimism over AI has lifted the tech sector in recent weeks, with investors upbeat about the upcoming earnings season. But confidence wobbled after the Financial Times reported that OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, expected annualized revenue of $50 billion this year, far below the $70 billion flagged earlier. Bloomberg later cited unnamed sources as saying the company still expected to hit the original estimate.
Chris Weston at Pepperstone said "the discrepancy may reflect differences in revenue measurement rather than an outright deterioration in OpenAI's underlying business." On Wall Street, the Nasdaq closed more than one percent lower, with Nvidia down nearly three percent and Microsoft, AMD and Amazon also sharply lower.
Asia mostly recovered from early selling. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Mumbai, Wellington, Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta all rose, and US futures rallied. Tokyo ended flat after clawing back heavy morning losses, though tech investor SoftBank lost more than two percent and Kioxia nearly four percent. Seoul and Taipei, both heavily weighted toward tech firms, were closed for holidays. London, Paris and Frankfurt rose at the open.
Oil prices fell after Trump said Washington was holding "productive discussions" with Tehran. His remarks followed reports that the White House had asked the Pentagon to draw up plans for a possible attack before the Nov 3 midterm elections, in the hope that a show of strength might help struggling Republicans. Both main crude contracts slipped almost one percent. Prices had surged earlier on concerns about increased Iranian strikes in the Strait of Hormuz. Yemen's Houthis have also fired missiles at Riyadh airport and warned staff at Saudi oil facilities to leave to avoid being targeted.
Comments from Federal Reserve officials cemented expectations of another interest rate hike before the end of the year, though a move this month appears unlikely. Governor Christopher Waller said more tightening was likely needed to bring prices under control. St Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said he expected increases over the next six to nine months. - AFP
Key figures at around 0715 GMT
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: flat at 68,030.92 (close)Hong Kong - Hang Seng: up 1.7% at 24,178.27Shanghai - Composite: up 0.1% (close)London - FTSE 100: up 0.8% at 10,528.21West Texas Intermediate: down 0.8% at $90.74 per barrelBrent North Sea crude: down 0.9% at $103.35 per barrelEuro/dollar: up at $1.1227 from $1.1213Pound/dollar: up at $1.3236 from $1.3228Dollar/yen: up at 158.24 yen from 157.92 yenNew York - Dow: up 0.1% at 51,231.64 (close)
Kuwait Times
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