Asian share markets mostly slipped on Monday as worries about the sustainability of the AI investment boom loomed over the tech sector, while the high price of oil limited the safe-haven appeal of sovereign bonds. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index opened up seven points, or 0.03 percent, at 23,301. The tech index rose 20 points, or 0.55 percent, to 3,775 while the China enterprises index edged up 14 points, or 0.18 percent, to 7,876. The Shanghai Composite Index opened 15 points, or 0.4 percent, higher at 3,614. The Shenzhen Component Index was 63 points, or 0.59 percent, up at 10,897 while the ChiNext Index rose 25 points, or 1.05 percent, to 2,439. In Tokyo, the Nikkei opened 318 points, or 0.51 percent, lower at 62,972, moved up into positive territory before slipping again to be 215 points lower at one stage before lunch. In Seoul, the Kospi opened 92 points, or 1.62 percent, down at 5,637 before regaining ground to be 87 points higher at one stage before noon. The mixed openings came as concerns about negative cash flow and the sheer scale of AI capex saw the cost of insuring against corporate defaults blow out last week, while gold hit a one-year low amid talk stressed investors were selling to raise money for margin calls. An added wrinkle is the US midterms, with a win by Democrats in either or both houses may result in more political hurdles for data centres. Adding to the air of unease were withdrawals from Binance as the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange went back online on Sunday after hackers stole billions from the platform last week. All of which raises the stakes for earnings this week with Apple, AMD and Palantir set to report in the wake of Intel's near 29 percent tumble on Friday. Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect capex by hyperscalers to almost double to US$800 billion this year, and rise further to US$1.2 trillion in 2027. At the same time, they see S&P 500 earnings per share growth of nearly 30 percent in 2026, slowing to 18 percent next year. "Earnings results have underscored the fundamental challenge facing equity investors – earnings growth is strong, but it is no longer accelerating," wrote Ben Snider, Goldman's chief US equity strategist, in a note. "Similarly, Q3 results support our view that AI investment spending will continue to grow but that the growth rate of AI capex is peaking." The recent retreat in equities provided a reprieve for safe-haven bonds, with investors wondering if a sustained selloff in the stock market could deter the Federal Reserve from hiking interest rates in December. Futures still imply a 72 percent chance of a quarter-point rate rise, but now only have 55 basis points of total tightening priced in compared to more than 70 basis points a month ago. (Reuters/Xinhua) Edited by Tony Sabine