Global markets tumble after US tech stock sell-off

Global financial markets have tumbled on the back of a major sell-off of technology stocks linked to the result of US mid-term elections and concerns over a potential AI “bubble”.

Technology firms have seen trillions of pounds wiped off their value as a result, with heavy falls for chipmakers and data centre operators.

On Friday morning, the Asian markets followed turmoil on the US stock markets to drop firmly lower, led by plunges in the tech sector.

Japan’s Nikkei has fallen by around 6%, sending it below the 60,000 point level for the first time since May.

The Japanese index was heavily weighed down by significant drops for technology firms SoftBank and Kioxia.

Tesla shares slumped (Niall Carson/PA)

PA Archive

Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi index has also slumped on the back of weakness in the sector.

It came after the major US equity markets saw around three trillion dollars of value wiped off.

The trading turmoil was significantly linked to worries that Democratic success in the US mid-term elections could herald a slowdown in the rapid boom across the AI sector.

The tech-focused Nasdaq 100 index closed 6.4% lower, with particular losses amid chipmakers and AI firms, with Nvidia sliding by more than 9%.

Elon Musk also saw his net worth drop during the session after shares in Tesla and SpaceX slumped by around 10% and 9% respectively.

Elsewhere, the S&P 500 index finished the session 4.4% lower as the weakness spread more broadly across other sector.

In a post of Truth Social, President Donald Trump said “the stock market suffered one of the worst days in history” as he blamed the Democrats for the market chaos.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at SwissQuote, said: “The S&P 500 shed more than 4%, and the Korean Kospi is down by 5%.

“The memory-chip bubble there had already burst around June, with investors heading towards the exit all at the same time, as everyone wondered when the AI frenzy would come to an end.

“It is possible that we have reached boiling point in Nasdaq too, and now value has started evaporating.”