Stocks tumble as AI rout deepens, silver hammered

By Gregor Stuart Hunter

SINGAPORE, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Asian stocks extended losses into a second day in early trading on Friday as a selloff on Wall Street intensified, with precious metals and cryptocurrencies gripped by wrenching volatility.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.9%, led by a 5% dive in South Korea's Kospi .KS11 which triggered a brief trading halt shortly after the open. Japan's Nikkei 225 .N225 shed 0.7%, while S&P 500 e-mini futures EScv1 slid 0.6% as Nasdaq e-mini futures NQcv1 tumbled 1.1%.

"Investors are questioning their commitment to the pillars that have underpinned markets over the past six months: AI, crypto, and precious metals," said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney. "This raises the odds of a deeper unwind."

Stocks sold off overnight on fears that new AI models may start to eat into the profits of software firms, with the S&P 500 .SPX turning negative for the year as fears around the labour market grew.

Layoffs announced by U.S. employers surged in January to the highest level for the month in 17 years, a survey from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed on Thursday.

Precious metals saw little respite, with gold XAU= falling 1.6% to $4,691.76, and silver XAG= plunging another 8.9% to $64.912.

Cryptocurrency markets extended also losses after breaching several milestones in a $2 trillion wipeout on Thursday, with bitcoin BTC= tumbling 3% to $61,238.64 and ether ETH= down 1.8% at $1,813.77.