Global Stocks Plunge Amid Wrenching Volatility in Precious Metals and Cryptocurrencies

Stocks in Asia plummeted on Friday, following a global rout on Wall Street. The MSCI All-Country World Index and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq e-mini futures slid 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. Cryptocurrencies and precious metals also saw significant losses, but later recovered partially. The selloff was attributed to fears of AI models impacting software firm profits and a surge in layoffs in the US.