Asian Shares Plummet as Alphabet Earnings Miss Expectations Asian shares declined on Thursday, October 29, as Alphabet's disappointing earnings announcement weighed on the market. The tech giant's shares plummeted in after-hours trading, wiping nearly US$400 billion off its market value. This significant drop dragged Nasdaq futures lower. In contrast, Microsoft's earnings announcement was a bright spot, with the company beating forecasts and lifting its shares. The tech sector has been under pressure in recent days, with investors digesting the Federal Reserve's decision to pause interest rates on Wednesday. The sell-off in Alphabet's shares spread to other Asian markets, with the South Korea's Kospi index falling. The decline in tech stocks comes as investors await earnings announcements from Amazon and Intel later in the day. The mixed response to AI-related earnings announcements has raised the stakes for these upcoming results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 also fell, with the Dow Jones declining 0.4% and the S&P 500 losing 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6%.