Global tech rout hits Wall Street; Binance resumes after $3.6B withdrawals

Wall Street suffered its worst day since June as a selloff in technology stocks deepened on concerns that the artificial-intelligence boom had driven prices too high, with the S&P 500 falling 1.8 percent and the Nasdaq dropping 2.9 percent. The Australian sharemarket is set to dip at the open, with futures pointing to a slide of 4 points. Intel plunged 28.6 percent, its worst drop since 1974, after giving a weak profit forecast, while Amazon fell 1.4 percent on concerns about heavy cash spending on AI infrastructure. Nvidia dropped 4.2 percent, and Alphabet had fallen 12 percent the prior day, as investors questioned whether massive AI investments would yield sufficient returns. In cryptocurrency markets, bitcoin fell below $US77,000 after a hack on Binance, the world's largest exchange, with customers withdrawing $US3.64 billion before the platform returned online. Outside tech, stocks were more resilient, with ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Mondelez rising on stronger-than-expected profits, while Treasury yields eased to 4.93 percent.