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Asian Stocks Slump as Kospi Falls 8.8% and Nikkei Drops 5.5% After US Tech Rout
Asian stocks slump as Kospi drops 8.8% and Nikkei falls 5.5% after US tech rout
Key points
- Seoul's Kospi slid as much as 8.8%, triggering a circuit breaker that suspended trading for 20 minutes.
- Samsung Electronics plunged nearly 10% and SK Hynix slid over 11%, while Tokyo Electron fell around 9%.
- The Nasdaq fell 5.52% on Thursday and shed as much as $2.5 trillion (roughly €2.23 trillion) in market value.
Why it matters. The rout reflects growing investor doubt over whether heavy AI infrastructure spending will eventually produce commensurate profits, and European futures indicated the selloff was likely to spread to Europe.
Japanese and South Korean shares tumbled on Friday after a tech selloff on Wall Street, with Seoul's Kospi sliding as much as 8.8% and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 down 5.5% in early trade. The Kospi drop triggered a circuit breaker that halted trading for 20 minutes, while Taiwan's TAIEX fell more than 8%. On Thursday the Nasdaq fell 5.52%, shedding as much as $2.5 trillion (roughly €2.23 trillion), as investors grew anxious about AI spending plans.
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Asian Stocks Slump as Kospi Falls 8.8% and Nikkei Drops 5.5% After US Tech Rout
Japanese and South Korean shares tumbled on Friday after a massive selloff in US tech stocks. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 5.5% in early trade. Seoul's tech-heavy Kospi slid as much as 8.8%, triggering a circuit breaker that suspended trading for 20 minutes. Concerns that Democrats in the US will push back against data center projects are weighing on an AI trade already facing doubts about profitability.