Asian Markets Weighed By AI Worries, Crude Oil Price Spike

(RTTNews) - Renewed worries about the development of Artificial Intelligence and the call by AI leaders to slowdown the pace of AI development dampened sentiment across Asian markets. The spike in crude oil prices as well as worries about inflation also weighed on market sentiment ahead of interest rate decisions by the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan.

China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down 3 points or 0.07 percent from the previous close of 3,888.11 to finish trading at 3,885.33. The day's trading ranged between 3,867.02 and 3,895.51. The index has gained less than half percent over the course of the past year.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 518 points or 0.81 percent to close trading at 63,492.99 amidst safety worries about Artificial Intelligence development. The day's trading ranged between 63,691.53 and 62,726.18.

Fujitsu jumped almost 7.4 percent followed by NEC Corp that gained 6.9 percent. SoftBank Group Corp plunged almost 11-percent amidst concerns about its aggressive bets on artificial intelligence and worries over potential delays in OpenAI's IPO. Kioxia Holdings followed with losses of 6.4 percent.

The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange added 112 points or 0.45 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 24,917.60. The day's trading range was between a high of 24,926.24 and a low of 24,662.11. The index has lost close to 6 percent over the past year.

Korean Stock Exchange's Kospi Index slipped 226 points or 3.26 percent from the previous close of 6,909.91 to close trading at 6,684.37. The day's trading range was between 6,654.82 and 6,773.97. Nevertheless, the index is holding on to gains of close to 97 percent over the course of the past year.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 closed trading at 8,749.90, adding 9 points or 0.10 percent from the previous close of 8,741.20. The day's trading ranged between 8,734 and 8,768.30. The index is trading with losses of more than 1.25 percent over the course of the past year.

Catalyst metals led gains with a surge of 6.1 percent followed by Lovisa Holdings that rallied 5.7 percent. Deep Yellow led losses with a decline of 8.8 percent followed by Megaport that declined 8.3 percent.

The NZX 50 of the New Zealand Stock Exchange erased 20 points or 0.14 percent to close trading at 13,560.69. The day's trading ranged between 13,560.69 and 13,690.63. The benchmark index has gained more than 2.5 percent over the course of the past year.

Vista Group International rallied 2.3 percent followed by A2 Milk that gained 2.1 percent. Synlait Milk led losses with a decline of 7.5 percent. Serko dropped 5.1 percent.

Wall Street had closed on a strong positive note on Friday, amidst the relief provided by declining crude oil prices and easing treasury yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.98 percent to finish trading at 52,573.29. The S&P 500 gained 0.86 percent to finish trading at 7,656.98. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 0.96 percent to close trading at 26,333.04.