Asian technology stocks plunged Friday, following a sharp Wall Street sell-off as concerns over artificial intelligence spending and potential US restrictions on data-center development weighed on chipmakers.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 6.16% to 57,316.95, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 5.54% to 5,085.55. Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex fell 4.51% to 39,701.64.
In China, the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.17% to 3,646.63, while the Shenzhen Component lost 2.4% to 11,196.22. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.02% to 24,543.71.
South Korean semiconductor producer SK Hynix plunged 9%, while Samsung Electronics shed 5.6%.
Electronics component maker LG Innotek fell 6.7%, while display manufacturer LG Display declined 3.6%.
Japanese technology shares also suffered steep losses, with chip-testing equipment maker Advantest dropping 4.6% and semiconductor equipment supplier Tokyo Electron falling 5.4%.
Technology investor SoftBank Group slumped 10.4%, while memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings slid 10.8% and Renesas Electronics lost 6.1%.
In Taiwan, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, declined 4.7%, while Foxconn Technology fell 4.5%.
Selling also spread across Chinese technology stocks, with the STAR Market and the ChiNext Artificial Intelligence Index both falling more than 4%.
The regional declines followed a 5.5% plunge in the Nasdaq Composite on Thursday, leaving the US technology-heavy index more than 10% below its recent peak and in correction territory.
A market correction generally refers to a decline of at least 10% from a recent high.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sank 12.2%, reflecting the sharp selling pressure across US chip stocks.
Investors were assessing whether Democrats’ sweeping victory in the US midterm elections could lead to tighter restrictions on data-center construction, potentially slowing demand for AI chips and related infrastructure.
The prospect added to concerns over the sustainability of the AI investment boom and whether massive spending on computing capacity would generate sufficient returns.