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(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia were set to edge lower on Friday as investors grappled with a pullback in artificial-intelligence shares and hopes of a diplomatic resolution to tensions in the Middle East.
Equity-index futures for Japan and South Korea pointed to losses at the open, while those for Hong Kong signaled gains. Contracts for US stocks were lower after investors rotated out of chipmakers and into a broader range of sectors, helping lift the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record high. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5%, recovering from an intraday decline of as much as 1.6%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4%.
US oil steadied in early Asian trading after falling in the previous session as investors bet the US and Iran were moving closer to a diplomatic breakthrough following a conditional ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The optimism came even after Hezbollah’s rejection on Thursday of a US-backed truce proposal in Lebanon.
The blistering run in semiconductor stocks from war-driven lows took a breather as tech giant Broadcom’s forecast for sales of AI chips disappointed investors hoping for more. With chipmakers having rallied sharply on optimism around artificial-intelligence spending, some traders used the disappointment as an opportunity to lock in gains and rotate into sectors viewed as better positioned to benefit from a resilient economy.
