Apple Slides as Tech Rout Deepens and Yen Surges

Apple shares fell sharply on Thursday, wiping about $200bn from its market value, as a renewed technology sell-off spread across Wall Street after a profit warning from Cisco unsettled investors. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed lower, with logistics and transport stocks also under pressure amid fresh concerns about job disruption from artificial intelligence. In currency markets, the yen strengthened through the week and traded near 153.1 per dollar early on Friday, while the dollar softened against sterling and the euro. Gold rebounded from recent lows and oil prices stayed lower, heading for a second weekly decline.

Equities

The FTSE 100 closed 0.7% lower on Thursday, giving up earlier gains after briefly touching a fresh record high during the session. The decline came as the mood turned more cautious across global equity markets. The FTSE 250 mid-cap index also fell, ending the day down 0.4%.

The standout move in London trading came from Schroders. Shares in the asset manager closed nearly 30% higher on Thursday afternoon after the company confirmed it had agreed to a £9.9 billion takeover by US group Nuveen. The deal, announced earlier in the day, lifted Schroders to its highest share price in more than four years and marked one of the largest fund management buyouts seen in Europe. Elsewhere, British American Tobacco finished the session 0.4% lower after releasing full-year results alongside details of planned job cuts. Management pointed to ongoing pressures in key markets as it outlined its outlook for the year ahead. Rentokil Initial shares dropped 6.8% by the close on Thursday after weaker quarterly results from US peer Rollins weighed on sentiment across the pest control sector.

UK economic data also sat in the background for investors. Figures published on Thursday morning showed the economy grew by just 0.1% in the fourth quarter, matching the previous quarter’s pace. A sharp downward revision to monthly GDP and a near 3% fall in business investment reinforced expectations that the Bank of England is likely to cut interest rates again in March.

In the United States, equity markets sold off heavily during Thursday’s session. The S&P 500 closed 1.6% lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3%. Losses were most pronounced in technology stocks, with the Nasdaq Composite ending the day just over 2% lower.

Cisco delivered the sharpest fall among large US companies. Its shares closed down 12.3% on Thursday evening after the networking equipment maker reported quarterly adjusted gross margins below market expectations. The move marked Cisco’s biggest one-day decline since May 2022 and added to pressure across the technology sector. Shares in Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms all ended the session lower as investors reacted to concerns around heavy capital spending on artificial intelligence.

There were a few areas of strength. Equinix shares rose 10.4% after markets closed on Wednesday and held those gains through Thursday after the data centre operator forecast annual revenue above estimates, citing strong demand linked to AI-related infrastructure. In contrast, warnings from Lenovo about shipment pressure caused by a memory-chip shortage hit US-listed personal computer makers. HP closed 4.5% lower on Thursday, while Dell Technologies ended the session down 9%.

For UK-based investors, the session underlined how sharply moves in major US technology names can feed back into London trading, even as individual corporate news such as the Schroders takeover continued to drive large stock-specific moves closer to home.

Forex & Commodities

Currency markets were led this week by a stronger Japanese yen, which was set early on Friday morning to record its best weekly run in close to 15 months. The yen was slightly lower on the day at 153.1 per dollar in Asian trading, but remained firmly higher over the week after Japan’s general election delivered a clear mandate for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Against the euro, the yen traded near €0.8420, while it strengthened versus sterling to around £0.8230 late on Thursday. In contrast, the US dollar was broadly weaker ahead of key inflation data due later on Friday. The euro eased slightly to $1.186, while the pound slipped back to $1.361 in early London dealing. Investors were also digesting comments from a Bank of Japan policymaker on Friday, who said Japan was close to achieving the central bank’s 2% inflation target, keeping the prospect of a rate rise in the coming months firmly in view.

Spot gold rebounded early on Friday, rising to $4,950 per ounce after falling sharply in the previous session. Prices had dropped on Thursday after sliding below the $5,000 level during US trading, following a broad sell-off in equities. Despite Friday’s bounce, gold was still slightly lower over the week as traders waited for US consumer price data due later in the day, which is expected to influence expectations around Federal Reserve policy. Silver also recovered on Friday morning to $76.31 per ounce, although it remained lower on the week after a steep fall on Thursday.

Oil prices stayed under pressure. Brent crude was down slightly early on Friday at $67.46 a barrel, while US crude traded near $62.72, leaving both contracts on course for a second weekly decline. Prices fell sharply on Thursday after comments from US President Donald Trump suggested progress towards a possible deal with Iran, easing concerns over supply disruption. Sentiment was further weighed down by fresh data showing a large rise in US crude inventories and a report from the International Energy Agency forecasting weaker global demand growth this year.