While Wall Street suffered its worst Nasdaq session since June, the ASX 200 managed to finish in the green as banks offset a mining sector rout.
The benchmark ASX 200 closed up 2.00 points or 0.02 per cent to 8795.20, thanks to an afternoon rally, while the broader All Ordinaries slipped 11.30 points or 0.13 per cent to 8905.80.
The Australian dollar slipped against the greenback to buy 70.12 US cents.
Despite the relatively subdued gains, most of the Australian market avoided the global carnage, with seven of the 11 sectors closed higher.
The mining stocks – which are a proxy for the AI trade – were hammered, down 3.85 per cent largely due to a falling copper price.
BHP shares slumped 3.64 per cent to $55.05, Rio Tinto dropped 2.68 per cent to $146.27 and Capstone Copper sank 4.12 per cent to $11.18.
Australia’s sharemarket followed a weak night on Wall Street with Overnight the benchmark t S&P 500 ended Thursday down 1.2 per cent while the technology heavy Nasdaq 100 dropped 2.9 per cent to have its worst day of trading since June.
Traders sold off the US tech giants as it was revealed the hyperscalers will spend $US825 billion ($1.2 trillion) in the coming years.
Capital.com senior financial market analyst Kyle Rodda said US technology stocks got slammed on these concerns.
“But rather than the risk that AI hyperscalers are spending too much, the proverbial script has flipped,” he said.
“The perceived risk now is that they are spending too little. Or more precisely, that future capex could be lower than previously thought and the rate of growth in investment could be slowing down.”
Parts of the market not associated with artificial intelligence helped offset the falls on the ASX 200.
Retail giant Wesfarmers climbed 3.76 per cent to $80.29, while JB Hi Fi jumped 2.19 per cent to $73.24 and Harvey Norman leapt 3.22 per cent to $4.17.
It was also a strong day of trading for Australia’s major four banks.
Index heavyweight Commonwealth Bank shares soared 4.35 per cent to $164.00, National Australia Bank leapt 3.25 per cent to $41.31, Westpac surged 3.11 per cent higher to $36.79 and ANZ closed 0.88 per cent higher to $40.04.
Also hitting the local market was a jump in oil prices which reached $US112 ($A160) a barrel overnight its highest point in five months.
Oil prices rallied on reports of fresh drone attacks from Iran-backed Houthis in Saudi Arabia, which could have damaged energy infrastructure from the key oil producer.
In company news, buy now pay later provider Zip plunged 29.47 per cent to $1.46 after it reported a $10.1m hit from a fraud incident in the United States.
Despite the set back, Zip maintains previous full-year guidance. The business said total transaction volume was up 18 per cent to $4.6bn and cash earnings came in at $65m for the three months ending September.
Furniture Retailer Temple Webster soared 33.41 per cent to $5.43 despite announcing an 8 per cent decline in revenue so far this year.
Nick Scali shares bounced back 5.15 per cent to $12.65 after it crashed on Thursday, due to a profit warning and comments about a worsening environment for retailers.