Business · Markets · 2 hrs ago
Asian markets mixed as oil rises and AI spending concerns grow
Asian markets were mixed early Thursday, with Japanese shares edging up and South Korean shares falling.
US stock futures fell after Tesla cut its spending forecast while Meta raised its AI investment outlook.
Investors are weighing whether the growth from AI will justify the high cost of building data centers and computing capacity.
Tesla said it expects to spend about $20 billion this year, while Meta plans to spend $135 billion to $145 billion in 2026.
Oil prices rose as Middle East tensions raised concerns about supply, with US crude nearing $98 a barrel and Brent above $110.
The US State Department ordered non-emergency staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia because of threats from Houthi militants in neighboring Yemen.
Asian stocks were mixed in early Thursday trading as rising oil prices and concerns about artificial-intelligence spending weighed on sentiment.
South Korean shares fell 0.2%, while Japanese stocks edged higher.
US equity-index futures fell after Tesla cut its capital-spending forecast and Meta raised its spending outlook.
West Texas Intermediate crude climbed toward $98 a barrel, while Brent rose 1% to above $110.
The oil rise followed a deadly attack on a Saudi oil field amid growing Middle East tensions.
- Who
- Asian markets, Tesla, Meta and oil-market participants.
- What
- Asian stocks were mixed as oil rose and investors weighed the cost and outlook for AI-related spending.
- When
- Early Thursday trading; the article was published on 2026-10-22.
- Where
- Asian markets and oil markets, amid tensions in the Middle East.
- Why
- Mixed earnings from Tesla and Meta raised questions about the AI trade, while a deadly attack on a Saudi oil field added concerns about oil supply.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Tesla reported earnings and said its capital expenditures would be around $20 billion this year, while Meta raised the lower end of its 2026 capital-spending outlook to $135 billion.
Asian benchmarks were mixed, US equity-index futures fell and oil prices climbed.
- South Korean shares
- Fell 0.2%
- West Texas Intermediate
- Climbed toward $98 a barrel
- Brent crude
- Rose 1% to above $110
- Tesla capital expenditures
- Around $20 billion this year
- Meta capital expenditures
- $135 billion to $145 billion in 2026
What people are saying
It’s all about earnings
There’s definitely a tension in the market between the growth path of the AI names and the ability to finance the industry.
If we don’t build out these data centers, it is actually more inflationary because the cost of compute is so high right now
And the faster we can build out more data centers, the more compute we have, the faster we can bring down the cost.