Asian technology stocks crashed on Friday morning, dragging the region's main indexes sharply lower after a tech sell-off on Wall Street overnight. Investors are worried that the sweeping Democratic victory in the U.S. midterm elections could slow or delay the construction of new data centers, according to Nikkei Asia, shaking the assumptions behind the AI boom that has powered chip and hardware shares for months.
The sell-off was severe enough to force emergency action. Taiwan's Taiex fell about 9% in morning trading, its steepest intraday point drop on record, while South Korea halted trading as the Kospi dropped 8.7%, and Japan's Nikkei lost 6.7%. The scale of the declines shows how tightly Asian markets, and the companies listed on them, are now tied to the global artificial intelligence trade.
Asian market losses: Taiex, Kospi and Nikkei
The three markets at the center of the fall are home to many of the suppliers that feed the AI supply chain: chipmakers, server builders and component manufacturers. A record intraday drop on the Taiex is the clearest signal that investors are repricing how much of that demand is guaranteed.
South Korea's decision to halt trading on the Kospi underlines the speed of the move rather than the size of any single company loss. Japan's Nikkei followed the same direction, with the decline described as part of a broader regional skid.
- Taiex (Taiwan): record intraday point drop, roughly 9% down in morning trading
- Kospi (South Korea): down 8.7%, trading halted
- Nikkei (Japan): down 6.7%
