Hong Kong (AFP) - Tech firms were again on the back foot Friday after another round of disappointing earnings from Wall Street titans fanned already deep concerns about the AI investment boom.

Traders were also keeping an eye on bitcoin, which tumbled after the world’s largest crypto exchange said it had been hit by what analysts warned could be the biggest hack of its kind in the world.

AI-linked tech firms suffered steep losses after Amazon’s quarterly report fell short of analyst expectations on profit and revenue, and Intel’s expected income missed estimates owing to weak demand for PC processors and supply-chain problems.

The announcements came a day after Google parent Alphabet reported soft growth in revenue from advertising and its search business, while saying it would ramp up capital expenditure.

Alphabet plunged more than 12 percent, while Amazon tanked more than seven percent in after-hours trade – having lost more than four percent before the close – while Intel cratered 23 percent. The Nasdaq finished down more than one percent.

And the selling continued in Asia, where South Korean chipmaker SK hynix dived more than seven percent and rival Samsung lost three percent, well off their morning lows.

Japanese semiconductor firm Kioxia shed more than seven percent, while Advantest and SoftBank skidded nearly six percent.

TSMC in Taiwan lost 1.9 percent.

“This earnings season has been tough on AI players, with most getting punished against a backdrop of AI bubble and inflation fears,” said Anna Wu, of Floodlines Research.

“The concern isn’t that AI demand has already slowed. It’s that higher funding costs and credit risk could eventually force hyperscalers to slow their build-out.”

The selloff hit most broader markets in the region, with Seoul diving more than three percent, while Tokyo and Taipei shed more than two percent.

There were also losses in Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, and Manila, though Hong Kong, Sydney, Mumbai, and Wellington rose.

Paris stocks were flat as data showed the French economy contracted in the third quarter, compounding worries about public finances and growing political tensions.

London rose and Frankfurt dropped.

Friday’s retreat was a far cry from the optimism seen earlier in the week, when SK hynix said operating profit soared 632 percent and AI giant Anthropic reported a first-half revenue surge of about 1,300 percent in its IPO filing.

- Iran fears lift oil -

The results have been unable to soothe investor worries about the eye-watering amounts firms are pumping into AI and when that will see a profit, while surging borrowing costs are fuelling fears over company finances.

Focus is now turning to Tuesday’s US midterm elections and the impact they could have on the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency, with some speculating that he could ramp up his war on Iran, which could send oil spiking again.

“There’s been a lot of talk that once these are out of the way, the US could go all shock and awe on Iran? I’m not sure how the midterms would affect that if he loses control of both Houses,” said Michael Hewson, of MCH Market Insights.

“Does the outcome matter for the markets, probably not, although a crude oil price which moves above $120 a barrel could well be another story. This remains a much bigger risk for markets than anything the US midterms might bring about.”

Fears of a ramping up in US-Iran hostilities were stoked by a report in the Wall Street Journal saying Trump’s top Middle East commander had briefed him on military options for Tehran.

Both main contracts climbed more than one percent, with Brent heading towards $120 a barrel for the first time since April.

Bitcoin tumbled around five percent to a one-month low of around $76,400 after crypto platform Binance said it had fallen victim to a major hack that had impacted more than $6 billion in funds.

The world’s largest crypto exchange by daily trading volumes posted a series of sometimes contradictory messages on X, insisting that “user funds are completely safe” but also saying it would “cover all losses”.

It said later on its X account for Latin America that “the total estimated impact is around $6.3 billion”.

“We have worked with blockchain partners to freeze the affected assets, with ~$3 billion frozen on-chain so far,” it added.

That would be four times the amount impacted in the biggest-ever cyberattack of its kind to date, which saw $1.5 billion taken in February 2025 from the Bybit platform.

On currency markets the yen strengthened against the dollar after the Bank of Japan held steady on interest rates and said inflation had topped its two percent target.

- Key figures at around 0815 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.1 percent at 63,290.11 (close)

Seoul - Kospi: DOWN 3.5 percent at 5,730.74 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.5 percent at 23,294.42 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.4 percent at 3,599.02 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 10,752.98

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.7 percent at $103.68 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.8 percent at $116.98

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1185 from $1.1164 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3402 from $1.3365

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.58 yen from 157.92 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.46 pence from 83.54 pence

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 52,342.56 (close)