Asian shares gave up early gains on Thursday as mixed earnings from America's technology giants split the market. Alphabet fell about 10% in after-hours trading after reporting heavy cash spending, wiping nearly $400 billion off its market value and dragging Nasdaq futures about 1% lower, Reuters reported. Microsoft moved the other way, rising about 3% after beating forecasts with better-than-expected cash flow.

Samsung's record profit fails to lift Seoul

Samsung Electronics said its third-quarter operating profit rose nearly ninefold to a record high, driven by demand for memory chips used in artificial intelligence. Its shares still fell about 4%, after the company was silent on plans to boost shareholder returns, and Seoul's KOSPI index fell sharply after surging nearly 7% a day earlier. SK Hynix rose again after its own record result, but not by enough to offset Samsung's weight on the index.

A mixed map across the region

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.7%, while Japan's Nikkei trimmed its gains to end modestly higher. Mainland China's blue-chip index fell just under 1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged higher. European stock futures were only slightly higher, with pan-region futures up about 0.2%, as traders waited for Amazon and Intel earnings later in the day.

Jamie Hannah, deputy head of investments at VanEck, told Reuters that Alphabet's fall reflected pressure on its traditional advertising business from the very artificial intelligence boom lifting its cloud and data-centre revenue. Both Alphabet and Microsoft confirmed that artificial intelligence revenue remains solid, she said, through data-centre growth and cloud services. Overnight, the United States Federal Reserve held rates steady at 3.75% to 4%, with two policymakers dissenting in favour of a rise, while Chair Kevin Warsh struck a more confident note on inflation that sparked a rally in Treasuries.

Sources: Reuters via Duke FM, IDNFinancials.