Tokyo, Oct. 30 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average briefly plunged over 1,900 points on Friday, dragged down by renewed selling of artificial intelligence-related shares. The index of 225 major issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime section finished the day’s session down 1,369.36 points, or 2.12 pct, from Thursday at 63,290.11. Market players were spooked by an overnight sell-off on the U.S. market, where investors had resurgent concerns about returns on AI-linked investments after Google parent Alphabet Inc. reported a negative free cash flow. “Amazon.com Inc., which announced its earnings after U.S. trading closed Thursday, was sold in off-hours trading after also reporting a negative cash flow,” an official at a major brokerage house said. “Intel Corp. was also being sold in off-hours trading after reporting its earnings, and the Tokyo market is also seeing selling in bearish sentiment.” In the afternoon, the Nikkei index recouped some of its losses, albeit marginally. Still, an official of a Japanese securities company said, “Many investors retreated to the sidelines just before the weekend, as many companies are set to release their earnings reports after the end of Friday’s session and U.S. midterm elections will take place next week.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
