FTSE 100 slides 35 points as tech rout deepens on Apple price hikes

A wave of selling triggered by Apple's price hikes and OpenAI's IPO delay swept through global equity markets on Friday.

The FTSE 100 fell 35 points to 10,495 as a global technology selloff deepened, with Apple's price hikes and OpenAI's IPO delay rattling investors across Asia and Europe.

"Dip buyers have come storming in this afternoon to steady the ship after the wave of selling of the last 18 hours," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. "The recovery is a testament to the staying power of this rally, but holding on to gains has proved problematic throughout the week."

London's blue-chip index trimmed losses from more than 100 points as US futures stabilized, though the Nasdaq remained on course for a fifth straight day of declines. Energy stocks were the main drag, with BP falling nearly 2% and Shell more than 1% as Brent crude slid below $74 a barrel. Miners also weighed, with Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore each retreating more than 2%. Defensive names including British American Tobacco, Unilever and National Grid provided the only support among the index's 20 largest constituents.

The selloff shows how the cost of the AI buildout is beginning to ripple through consumer markets. Apple's decision to raise prices on Macs, iPads and the Vision Pro — its first formal move to pass soaring memory costs to consumers — triggered a 6.1% drop in its shares, the worst since April 2025. With memory prices expected to stay elevated until at least 2028, analysts warned that further price increases could dampen demand across the consumer electronics sector.

Asia Bears the Brunt of the Tech Rout

The pain was far more severe in Asia, where Seoul's Kospi index collapsed as much as 9%, triggering an emergency circuit breaker — the second in South Korean markets this week. Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 5%, while SoftBank Group Corp. plunged 14% in Tokyo after a New York Times report said OpenAI may delay its initial public offering until 2027. SoftBank, a major OpenAI backer with a stake valued at an estimated $65 billion, saw hopes for a quick IPO windfall evaporate.

The selloff in Asia was led by memory chip heavyweights. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each fell more than 8% in Seoul, while Japan's Kioxia Holdings sank as much as 12%. The declines followed Apple's price increases, which investors interpreted as the clearest sign yet that soaring component costs — driven by AI data center expansion — may begin to choke off consumer demand. "Markets are no longer treating memory strength as an automatic positive for the whole AI trade," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets in Singapore. "It validates AI infrastructure demand, but it also raises the cost of building and consuming AI."

Cross-Asset Spillover Deepens

The equity rout spilled into commodities, with Brent crude falling more than 3% to below $74 a barrel. The stronger dollar, driven by global uncertainty around technology shares and inflation concerns, added pressure on mining and materials stocks. US futures pointed to a lower open, with Nasdaq futures down 1.2% and S&P 500 futures off 0.5%, suggesting the selloff had further to run.

In London, the selloff was compounded by domestic headwinds. Heathrow Airport cut its passenger outlook and warned that adjusted EBITDA would decline by 7.4% from 2025 levels, citing the war in the Middle East. British food and drink exporters also reported a difficult start to the year, with export volumes falling 8.9% in the first quarter to their lowest level for a decade outside the pandemic, according to the Food and Drink Federation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.