- Nikkei fell as much as 7% and dropped under 60,000 for the first time since May.
- Kospi plunged as much as 8.8% on Friday, setting off a circuit breaker in Seoul.
- The Nasdaq 100 closed 6.5% lower on Thursday, ahead of Asia’s AI-led stock rout.
Tech stocks led a rout across Asia on Friday, extending a Wall Street slump on worries that a Democratic election win will bring tighter US rules on artificial intelligence. Japan’s Nikkei had its heaviest one-day fall in more than a year, trading in Seoul was halted, and Bitcoin dropped below $76,000.
Wall Street Sets Off the Slide
The Nasdaq 100 closed 6.5% lower on Thursday. Futures steadied afterward, with Nasdaq 100 contracts up 1% and S&P 500 contracts up 0.2%, while Dow futures lost 0.8%. President Donald Trump blamed the sell-off on the midterm result.
Investors also worried that the Democrats’ strong midterm showing could slow the building of data centres, which would put the future of AI infrastructure spending in doubt.
Asia’s Biggest Chip Markets Take the Hit
- MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index sank 3.9%.
- Nikkei 225: down about 6%, and as much as 7% at the low, falling below 60,000 for the first time since May. It was set for the largest daily loss since April 2025.
- Kospi: plunged as much as 8.8% and triggered a circuit breaker, dipping under 5,000 for the first time since February. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each fell more than 6%.
- Taiwan’s main index: down 4.9%, dragged by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
Southeast Asia Closes Lower
All five major bourses finished in the red:
- Singapore: down 2.29% at 5,174.73
- Malaysia: down 1.33% at 1,614.11
- Indonesia: down 1.48% at 4,955.66, below 5,000 again
- Thailand: down 0.27% at 1,497.99
- Philippines: down 0.29% at 5,761.38
Miners had led Jakarta’s rise on Thursday, with Merdeka Copper Gold up 15.76% at 2,130, Archi Indonesia up 12.07% and Amman Mineral up 8.28%. In India, GIFT Nifty pointed to a gap-down start. The yen held at 157.65 per dollar and the offshore yuan at 6.6643.
Crypto Retreats
- Bitcoin: $75,691.99, down 5.9% in 24 hours and 1.9% on the week
- Ether: $2,230.56, down 8.1% on the day
- BNB: $692.27, down 3.3%
- XRP: $1.20, down 7.8%
Bitcoin had topped $80,000 on Thursday, so the latest slide erased that gain. No report ties crypto’s decline to the equity sell-off.
Related: Bitcoin Price Is Ignoring Bad News: Are Political Headlines Losing Their Power Over BTC?
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