Asian shares plunge as traders sell to lock in profits after recent rallies driven by AI

> Shares plunged Friday in Asia, led by heavy losses in Japan and South Korea as traders sold to lock in gains from recent rallies in stocks related to artificial intelligence.

> U.S. futures also declined, while oil prices fell.

> Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index shed 5% to 68,783.50 and the Kospi in Seoul plunged 8.4% to 8,182.54.

> Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.9% to 22,644.49, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 2.1% to 4,032.30.

> In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,745.80.

> Taiwan’s Taiex gave up 3.3%.

> Both the Nikkei and Kospi hit record highs earlier this week.

> The wide swings are typical of recent volatility in markets as investors react to the deluge of dollars heading into AI data centers and other investments.

https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-ai-chips-oil-rates-e356760ec69cab916e53a9804336b845