ASX opens lower dragged down by tech stock sell-off, Web Travel plunges
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More news: Australian shares tumbled at the open, weighed down by a sharp sell-off in tech, mining and energy stocks.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was down by 141 points, or 1.59%, to 8,748 at 10:29am AEDT. All of the 11 sectoral indices opened in the red.
Tech (-3.66%) was the worst performing sector, with the decline led by WiseTech Global (-4.55%), NextDC (-2.42%), Technology One (-3.22%) and Life360 (-4.91%). The sharp sell-off mirrored weakness on Wall Street, as investor concerns mounted over AI valuations among big tech stocks.
Web Travel Group (-35.23%) plunged after flagging that its Spanish subsidiary is being audited by the Spanish Tax Agency’s Special Delegation.
REA Group (-8%) was also among the worst performing stocks after reporting a 24% drop in net profit.
Among the companies trading higher, Resmed (+2.29%), Rio Tinto (+1.16%), Woolworths (+1.02%) and Pexa Group (+0.95%) advanced in early trade.
Locally, the Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing into the Remuneration Tribunal Amendment Bill 2025 today.
Bitcoin tumbles below USD65,000, extending sharp pullback from peak
More news: Bitcoin fell below USD65,000 ($93,672) on Thursday, mirroring a broader sell-off in mega-cap tech and software stocks, and erasing most of the gains made since Donald Trump's pro-crypto stance helped trigger a speculative rally in digital assets.
Bitcoin fell 12.47% to roughly USD63,764 at 8:24am AEDT.
The move marked the token's lowest level since October 2024, and put it on track to erase nearly half of its value from a record high reached four months ago.
The sell-off also weighed on crypto-related stocks, with shares in Strategy, world's largest Bitcoin holder, plunging 17.12% overnight. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase also fell 13.34%.
The latest decline follows continued doubts over the real world use of digital assets. Bloomberg reported that Bitcoin has continued to trade more like a high-risk asset and has failed to act as a safe haven during periods of financial market stress.
Australian shares to fall as tech rout drags Nasdaq to 3-month low
The news: Australian shares are set to open lower after Wall Street fell for a third consecutive session on Thursday, with the Nasdaq sliding to its lowest level since November amid losses in mega-cap tech stocks including Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet.
The S&P 500 software and services index fell 3.2% on Thursday, and is on track for a seventh straight session in the red.
The numbers: Updated at 7:48am AEDT:
- ASX futures: down 87 points to 8,807.
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 1.31%, S&P 500 down 1.24% and the Nasdaq down 1.10%.
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.29%, DAX down 0.46% and FTSE 100 down 0.90%.
- Spot gold: down 3.22% to USD4,803 per ounce.
- Oil prices: Brent down 2.82% to USD67.45/bbl and US WTI down 2.95% to USD63.21/bbl.
- AUD: down 0.77% at 69.44 US cents.
- Bitcoin: down 13.84% to USD62,683.
The context: The S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones traded lower overnight led by heavy selling in the technology and software stocks.
Investor sentiment weakened amid growing concerns over heavy spending on artificial intelligence, as markets await clearer signs that those investments will translate into stronger revenue and profit growth.
Shares in Alphabet fell nearly 8% before recovering to close flat, after it outlined plans to spend between USD175 billion and USD185 billion in capital expenditure in 2026 as it seeks to dominate the AI arms race.
Technology sell-off deepened as Microsoft slid 4.80%, Palantir dropped 7.28% and Amazon fell 4.43% ahead of its quarterly earnings release.
Software and data services stocks were also hit, with ServiceNow tumbling 7.22% and Salesforce losing 5.30%, as investors weighed concerns that rapidly advancing AI tools could decrease demand for traditional software and pressure profit margins across the sector.
Wall Street's 'fear gauge', the CBOE Volatility Index, briefly climbed to its highest level in more than two months.
Elsewhere, data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed US employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January, up 118% from the prior year, while weekly unemployment benefit claims rose by 22,000 to 231,000.
Locally, the Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing into the Remuneration Tribunal Amendment Bill 2025 today.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is also due to release its estimates of industry multi factor productivity for 2024-2025 at 11:30am AEDT.
