Asian shares traded mixed early Tuesday as artificial-intelligence stocks experienced a downturn, while oil prices continued to climb. The Nikkei 225 in Japan surged 0.8% in morning trading, with Softbank Group, a major investor in OpenAI, jumping more than 8% after recouping overnight losses. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman indicated that a Wall Street stock sale might not occur until next year, potentially delaying a significant influx of cash for Softbank and other early investors.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.9%, South Korea's Kospi was little changed, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite in China added 0.1%.
Concerns about the rapid advancement of AI have surfaced, with industry leaders warning of a potential need for a slowdown for humanity's safety. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei cited safety issues, including the risk of AI agents taking control of the internet within six to 12 months. These worries have pressured AI stocks, whose prices have previously surged on investor enthusiasm for the technology. Nvidia, a key provider of AI chips, fell 3.4%, and SpaceX saw a 2% drop after Elon Musk echoed Amodei's concerns.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.6%, although gains in other sectors helped limit overall losses. The S&P 500 slipped 37.00 points.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.36% to $102.77 a barrel, and Brent crude gained 1.17% to $106.92 a barrel. Oil prices are being supported by ongoing fighting in the Middle East, which is impacting global crude supply. An important Saudi oil pipeline will be largely out of service for weeks following a recent attack, according to regional officials. This pipeline was crucial for shifting exports to the Red Sea and bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, where previous Iranian attacks had disrupted oil tanker movements.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly surpassed 5.00% for the first time in nearly three years before pulling back slightly. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up against the Japanese yen, while the euro saw a slight decrease against the dollar.