South Korea’s KOSPI crashed more than 8% shortly after opening today, triggering a 20-minute trading halt, while Japan’s Nikkei plunged around 6%.
The turmoil follows a brutal Thursday on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq lost 5.5%, the S&P 500 fell 4.4%, and semiconductor stocks plunged around 12%.
Israel’s Tel Aviv Stock Exchange also suffered heavy losses, with its benchmark TA-35 index dropping 3.7% to a six-month low.
The selloff comes as investors digest Democratic gains in the midterms, with concerns that tighter restrictions on AI data centers could slow America’s massive technology investment boom.
With Asian chipmakers heavily dependent on U.S. demand, fears surrounding the future of AI infrastructure are now spreading across global markets.
Source: Channel 12, Reuters / Writer: Mhedi
