Seoul Gazette - Stock markets slide as tech results shock

The week has seen forecast-missing results from some of the world's biggest firms including Apple, Amazon, Facebook parent Meta and Google parent Alphabet.

That has caused sharp share-price losses for some of the titans, in turn sending values tumbling for tech companies worldwide.

"Tech carnage is affecting sentiment," noted Neil Wilson, analyst at Market.com.

All eyes are meanwhile on Twitter after Elon Musk completed a mega takeover of the social media giant, with critics and fans anxious to see how the planet's richest man would run one of the world's leading social media platforms.

In foreign exchange Friday, the euro was back below parity against the dollar following official data showing the US economy rebounded in the third quarter.

Surprise figures showing Europe's biggest economy Germany had also expanded in the July-September period failed to push the euro above one dollar, where it stood earlier in the week for the first time since September.

Elsewhere, the yen was down against the dollar after Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the country would spend $260 billion on a stimulus package to cushion the weak economy.

The yen has plunged to 32-year lows versus the dollar in recent weeks as Japan's central bank refuses to hike interest rates despite sky-high inflation, fuelled by soaring energy prices.

ExxonMobil on Friday reported a surge in third-quarter earnings on high oil and natural gas prices.

The US oil giant became the latest petroleum heavyweight to report stunning quarterly figures, with year-on-year profits nearly tripling to $19.7 billion on revenue soaring to $112 billion.

- Key figures around 1115 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,042.47 points

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 13,127.27

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 6,230.98

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,582.33

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 27,105.20 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 3.7 percent at 14,863.06 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.3 percent at 2,915.93 (close)

New York - Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 32,033.28 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $0.9950 from $0.9965 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.1538 from $1.1567

Dollar/yen: UP at 147.62 yen from 146.27 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 86.22 pence from 86.11 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $88.56 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $96.61 per barrel

L. Pchartschoy--BTZ