This content was published on
June 8, 2026 - 02:07
5 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Asian equities dropped for a third day as a selloff in tech shares gathered momentum and a robust US jobs report fueled expectations for an interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Oil climbed after Iran fired missiles at Israel.The Kospi Index in South Korea, the world’s best-performing gauge this year on the back of a rally in artificial-intelligence shares, slumped over 8%. That triggered a trading halt. Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. were among the biggest losers. MSCI’s Asian equity gauge fell 1.6%, with Japanese stocks declining more than 2%.Sentiment stabilized as Nasdaq 100 futures erased earlier losses and rose 0.3%, following the underlying index’s worst decline since April 2025 on Friday.Weighing on the mood, Brent crude rose 2.6% to $95.60 a barrel as Middle East tensions flared again with Iran firing missiles at Israel. The gains moderated after reports cited President Donald Trump as saying the attacks won’t have an impact on efforts to reach a peace deal.The dollar, the haven of choice since the Middle East conflict began, gained against all of its Group-of-10 peers. Treasuries fell on Friday after the jobs report added to bets the Fed’s next rate move will be a hike.The global slide in stocks is the biggest setback in months for the latest leg of the bull market, which traces to the end of March when negotiations began in earnest to end the war in Iran. Amid concerns about inflation and elevated oil prices, investors have begun to question the sustainability of AI-driven gains, raising doubts about whether the rally has run too far, too fast.“For us, we worry that it is likely the start of a meaningful decline, even if it’s not the end of this bull market,” wrote Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak. “Longer term, we believe that we’re in a major bubble that will end very badly eventually.”On Friday, Wall Street’s historic weekly run came to a halt as a selloff in tech stocks gathered momentum. Stocks also face rising risk with mega AI deals ready to flood markets.The Nasdaq 100 Index sank 4.8%, while growing anxiety about valuations sent the S&P 500 down 2.6%, with the index failing to complete a 10th straight week of gains. A gauge of chipmakers tumbled 10%.Elswhere in South Korea, the government laid out a series of measures to curb pressure on the won after the currency slid to its weakest level since 2009.In geopolitical news, Iran fired several rounds of missiles toward Israel, as Trump pushed to preserve a faltering ceasefire in the US’s 100-day conflict with Tehran. The US and Iran appear to be making little progress toward an interim deal to end the war Washington and Israel began about 100 days ago.Another factor for investors to consider was a solid US jobs report.While there was a lot to like in Friday’s economic data, the figures came at a time when inflation risks are challenging the Fed. US job growth topped all forecasts in May and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, offering the clearest sign yet that the labor market may be breaking out of a prolonged period of lackluster hiring.Two-year yields, which are most sensitive to changes in US central bank policy, jumped 10 basis points Friday to 4.15%. Interest-rate swaps indicated traders expect a quarter-point Fed hike by the December policy meeting, with a roughly 60% chance of a move in October.Attention now turns to Fed policymakers’ next meet June 16-17 under the leadership of new Chairman Kevin Warsh.Corporate Highlights:OpenAI is readying a major platform overhaul ahead of its highly anticipated IPO later this year to better compete with rivals such as Anthropic, the Financial Times reported. Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said its new Vera central processing units will use SK Hynix Inc.’s memory chips as the two companies prepare to do more business in the coming year. A consortium of French telecommunications companies have agreed to buy billionaire Patrick Drahi’s SFR in a deal that values the country’s second-largest mobile carrier at €20.4 billion ($23.5 billion) including debt. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:05 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures fell 1.4% Japan’s Topix fell 1% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1523 The Japanese yen was little changed at 160.28 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7887 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 2.2% to $63,181.45 Ether rose 3.5% to $1,684.87 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.54% Japan’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 2.665% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.2% to $92.57 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.4% to $4,343.97 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
