A tech stock rout that began overnight in the United States has persisted in Asian trading.
asserted
that → begin → trading
Market authorities in South Korea paused trading on Friday as prices plunged across the region.
asserted
prices → pause → region
Global markets have been rattled by a sharp fall in the trading price of tech stocks, which is driven by fears that the Democrats’ victory in the US midterm elections will increase regulatory scrutiny of AI and slow the country’s data centre build-out.
asserted
victory → rattle → out
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judge → exempt → Washington
Japan’s Nikkei index slumped 6 percent, its deepest one-day drop since April 2025.
asserted
index → slump → April
Indices in South Korea and Taiwan plunged more than 8 percent after the opening bell, before cutting losses as authorities scrambled to stem the selling.
asserted
authorities → plunge → selling
Wall Street’s volatility “fear gauge” soared overnight on Thursday and the tech-focused Nasdaq sank 5.5 percent, wiping $3 trillion off S&P 500 firms, as investors fretted that the Democrats could put the brakes on the AI boom being encouraged by President Donald Trump.
uncertain
Democrats → soar → Trump
We saw that the AI sell-off continues here across many countries,” Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu reported from Beijing.
asserted
Yu → see → Beijing
“Some of those major markets have fortunately recovered some of those losses, but all of them are still clearly in the red,” she said.
asserted
she → recover → red
Analysts say the political jitters are hitting an AI trade already on shaky footing due to worries about returns on massive spending on related infrastructure.
asserted
jitters → say → infrastructure
“The selloff shows that AI stock prices had been built on rosy illusions about the future, and now that illusion is gone,” Dong Baozhen, chairman of asset manager Lingtong Shengtai, told the Reuters news agency.
asserted
Baozhen → show → agency
Now that backbone has snapped.
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backbone → snap → ?
Can AI bull markets elsewhere hold up on their own?”
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markets → hold → own
Authorities step in
Markets cut some of their losses by the time Asian markets closed, as authorities worked to stem the panic.
asserted
authorities → step → panic
Trading on South Korea’s Kospi market was temporarily halted amid the sharp slide.
asserted
Trading → halt → slide
Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il also eased rules on retail investors’ leveraged investments.
asserted
il → ease → investments
In China, state entities stepped in to buy up equities in a bid to stabilise the market, said Al Jazeera’s Yu.
asserted
Yu → step → market
The Taiwan stock market closed down 4.5 percent, recovering somewhat from its early morning slump.
asserted
market → close → slump
For the week, the index clocked a 12.2 percent decline, its biggest since 1991, LSEG data showed.
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data → clock → 1991
The government of the island state, a key producer of chips, sought to talk up the prospects for the sector.
asserted
government → seek → sector
Demand for emerging technologies like AI, high-performance computing and cloud services is expected to keep expanding, driving demand for tech companies, the economy ministry said in a statement issued on Friday.
asserted
ministry → emerge → Friday
Korean AI chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell nearly 6 percent and 9.4 percent respectively, cutting steep losses from earlier.
asserted
chipmakers → fall → losses
TSMC fell as much as 8.5 percent in Taiwan, before closing down 4.7 percent.
asserted
TSMC → fall → Taiwan
In Japan, Kioxia plunged 11 percent while AI investor SoftBank Group slid 11 percent.
asserted
Group → plunge → Japan
The selling indicates investors are starting to factor in increased opposition to data centres.
asserted
investors → indicate → centres
Analysts say markets have yet to fully consider the cost such building work has imposed on communities.
asserted
work → say → communities
Toby Walsh, the chief scientist for the AI Institute at Australia’s University of New South Wales, said he expected new regulations on data centres in many countries, including the US, Australia and the United Kingdom.
asserted
he → say → US
“The developers were building them in a way that wasn’t actually getting social licence,” Walsh told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Walsh → build → Jazeera
“They were building them in places where they didn’t need to build.
asserted
they → build → places
You don’t have to build data centres in urban areas.
asserted
You → have → areas
You can build them in the middle of nowhere.
asserted
You → build → middle
“I think it’s actually for the good of the tech industry in the United States that this has happened,” he added.
asserted
he → think → States
“We’re spending money a bit too quickly.
asserted
We → spend → money
And maybe this is the way to let that bubble deflate in a manageable way.”
asserted
bubble → let → way
The Aporia
