Global stocks slide as AI data centre fears hit US chip shares
S&P 500 companies lost a record $2.9 trillion in market value on Thursday, and Asian tech shares fell sharply on Friday. Investors are worried that Democrats' midterm wins could bring tougher rules on AI data centres.
For information only, not investment advice. Prices change quickly: check the time and source of every figure.
- S&P 500 firms lost a record $2.9 trillion in value on Thursday; the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 12.2%.
- Japan's Nikkei dropped about 7% at one point on Friday and South Korea's Kospi fell 8.8% at one point.
- Investors fear tighter AI regulation and resistance to data centre expansion after the US midterms.
Global stock markets fell sharply on Thursday and Friday as investors worried that Democratic gains in the US midterm elections could lead to stricter rules on AI data centres, according to Euronews and Al Jazeera.
On Thursday, S&P 500 companies lost a record $2.9 trillion in market value. The Nasdaq Composite closed down 5.5%, the S&P 500 fell 4.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3.4%. Euronews said these were the steepest daily percentage losses for all three indexes since President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs in April 2025. The Nasdaq ended the session 11.9% below its record high.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closed down 12.2%, its biggest one-day fall since 2020, and was about 16% lower for the week through Thursday's close.
Asian markets followed on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell about 7% at one point and was down 5.7% by midday in Tokyo. Kioxia and SoftBank lost more than 10% in Tokyo trading, while Advantest dropped more than 8%. South Korea's Kospi fell 8.8% at one point, triggering a 20-minute trading halt; SK Hynix was down about 10% and Samsung Electronics about 8% in early trading. Taiwan's Taiex closed 4.5% lower after falling more than 8% early on, and TSMC shares fell as much as 8.5%.
Declines elsewhere in the region were smaller: Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.7%, the Shanghai Composite 1.3% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 1%.
Euronews cited market intelligence company Cleanview as saying about 40% of planned US data centre capacity is in states where governors or governors-elect have pledged or imposed a pause on new projects. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed a federal moratorium earlier this year. Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that ING is putting a roughly $500 million portfolio of data centre loans up for sale at once.
President Trump blamed Democrats in a Truth Social post: "The Stock Market crashed today because the Dumocrats had a big Tuesday — So sad to see, you only have yourselves to blame!" Neil Wilson of Saxo Markets said the sell-off looked overdone but that investors would want to see markets stabilise first.
Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down about 1% at around 07:30 CET. Brent crude rose 1.4% to just under $100 a barrel, extending Thursday's gains, after oil had earlier fallen on hopes of an end to the Iran war. The dollar strengthened against the euro and the yen, and spot gold fell 1.1% to $4,044 an ounce by 06:00 CET.
Background
The KSE-100 closed at 175,380 on 5 November, according to khabr.pk's records. khabr.pk reported on 4 November that the index had closed at 168,018.87, up 1,454.80 points, and on 3 November that analysts linked gains to diplomatic progress in the Middle East conflict.
Why it matters
Pakistani investors in the Pakistan Stock Exchange watch global technology and AI shares for signs of wider market sentiment. Oil near $100 a barrel is relevant to fuel costs, with petrol at Rs352.59 and diesel at Rs382.25 per litre on 5 November. Gold, which fell on the world market to $4,044 an ounce, also affects local per-tola prices, which stood at Rs418,200 on 6 November among Sarafa dealers.
