London — An earnings miss by Amazon that hit US technology stocks overnight rippled through into other markets on Friday, with Asian stocks retreating from recent highs and European tech shares opening sharply lower. Amazon’s stock tumbled more than 2% on Thursday after it reported a slump in profits, as its rapid and costly expansion into new shopping categories and countries showed no sign of slowing. "It has been a pretty good season for earnings and this is the first big company that has sown a few doubts on that, and it also raises questions on where the broader tech sector is headed from here," said Investec economist Victoria Clarke. Amazon has been one of the companies powering the sector this year, with a 40% rise up until Thursday. Though other US sectors were resilient, Wall Street’s "fear index", the VIX, rose sharply on Thursday from a record low of 8.84% to an intra-day high of 11.5%. Amazon is one of the so-called "FANG" group of the most influential tech stocks, alon...
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