Wall Street looked set to stabilise after AI regulation fears drove a $2.5 trillion Nasdaq decline and wiped $3 trillion off S&P 500 firms. Nasdaq futures pointed to a 1.5% bounce, while US payrolls rose by 165,000, above forecasts.
Nasdaq futures pointed to a 1.5% bounce on Friday after the index fell 5.5% on Thursday, while the VIX eased. Nvidia rose 4.5% in premarket trading, and AMD, Intel, Broadcom and Micron Technology gained between 4.5% and 8%.
Asian shares plunged, with Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's KOSPI down about 6%; Taiwan's benchmark fell more than 8% at one point. European markets were down more than 1.5%. The Nasdaq's Thursday decline wiped out $2.5 trillion, while $3 trillion was erased from S&P 500 firms, as investors worried that tighter AI rules and the cost of data-centre infrastructure could constrain returns.
US nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000, above forecasts, and annual wage growth came in at 3.1%, rather than slowing below 3%. The US 10-year Treasury yield ticked up to 4.86% after falling overnight. Oil prices edged higher but remained on course for their biggest weekly drop since 2020.
