AI-linked stock markets in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan plummeted on Friday after a sharp tech selloff on Wall Street overnight. The Korea Exchange imposed a circuit breaker during morning trading to slow the selling, with the KOSPI index down as much as 8.7% at one point, according to Nikkei Asia.
Investors are worried that a sweeping Democratic victory in the U.S. midterm elections could delay data center construction, a key driver of demand for AI chips and memory. Market summaries put the Nasdaq 100 down about 6% on Thursday, a record $2.3 trillion loss in value, with the Philadelphia chip index off roughly 12%.
The moves hit the same Asian chipmakers and memory suppliers that had rallied on AI demand for most of the year. Why it matters: the rout shows how dependent global markets have become on the pace of AI infrastructure spending.