Apple’s decision to raise prices on iPads and MacBooks, citing an inability to absorb surging memory and storage chip costs, sent its shares down 6% on Thursday and erased roughly $250 billion in market capitalisation. The move rippled through global equity markets on Friday, with tech-heavy indices bearing the brunt of the sell-off as investors reassessed the inflationary side effects of the artificial-intelligence spending boom.

The price increases tempered the enthusiasm generated by Micron Technology’s blockbuster earnings, which had briefly lifted chip stocks. Analysts in London framed the divergence as a tale of two narratives: “Micron tells us where the profits are. Apple tells us where the inflation is,” said Nigel Green of deVere Group. Fund managers voiced concern that the vast capital expenditure by hyperscalers on AI infrastructure is stoking input-cost inflation before delivering clear returns on invested capital. A report that OpenAI may delay its initial public offering until 2027 added to the cautious mood, while month-end and quarter-end rebalancing flows amplified choppy trading in big tech names that had outperformed for much of the second quarter.

In Asia, the Kospi index in Seoul plunged as much as 9% at one point, triggering a circuit breaker, while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed more than 3%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 3%, and European bourses opened nearly 1% lower. US futures pointed to declines of 0.5% to 1.1%. Oil markets moved in the opposite direction: Brent crude slid more than 3% towards $72 a barrel, its lowest in four months, as Saudi Aramco resumed loadings at Ras Tanura after a near four-month halt, easing supply fears even after a vessel was struck near the Strait of Hormuz.

Currency and bond markets reflected shifting rate expectations. The yen hovered near a 40-year low of 161.6 per dollar, beyond the level that many traders view as a trigger for Japanese intervention. The dollar index slipped 0.3% to 101.2 after US inflation data met forecasts and the economy grew faster than previously estimated in the first quarter, though consumer spending nearly stalled. Two-year Treasury yields fell for a fourth day to 4.09%. The next test for sentiment arrives with the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting, where rate expectations remain finely balanced.