Tech shares slump as AI spending fears drive investors to United States bonds

Tech shares slumped on Friday and US bonds surged toward their biggest monthly gain in nearly three years, as investors scurried to safety due to worries that huge and rising AI spending may not deliver sufficient returns.

Futures trading pointed to falls on Wall Street later in the session, including a more than 2.5 per cent drop in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100. That came alongside an out-of-hours plunge of 25 per cent in Intel shares and a drop of 6 per cent in Amazon as their results showed they burned through cash.