AI Rout Sends Asia Chip Stocks Into Friday Selloff After $3 Trillion US Wipeout
SOX sits 46% above its 52-week low of $6,160.045.
Summary
The AI trade cracked hard in the US Thursday and the selling is rolling into Asia Friday. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slumped 12.2% overnight, the Nasdaq sank 5.5%, and $3 trillion came off S&P 500 companies — the steepest falls since the tariff-driven 'Liberation Day' rout a year and a half ago. The trigger is a sentiment shift: Democrats swept this week's midterms and investors fear they will put the brakes on the AI buildout, with regulatory scrutiny adding to worries about a slowdown in spending. Asia's chipmakers and data-center equipment suppliers in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan are the most exposed and already tumbled Wednesday and Thursday. This extends a rough stretch for semis — the index fell 5% on September 14 after Anthropic's CEO called for AI spending restraint and was down 3.3% on October 15 — but Thursday's move is far larger and marks a break in direction, not just another down day. Bonds are bid and the dollar is slipping against the yen and Swiss franc as money runs to safety.
At the time of this announcement, SOX was trading at $9,011.14 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector. The 52-week trading range was $6,160.04 to $14,655.29. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10. Source: Reuters.