On Friday, Asian technology stocks fell sharply, mirroring a steep decline in the U.S. markets where the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.5%, entering correction territory.
This downturn was driven by renewed fears regarding artificial intelligence spending and potential regulatory impacts following the Democrats' midterm election victory, which could impose tighter restrictions on data-center development. In South Korea, SK Hynix's shares plummeted over 8%, while Samsung Electronics fell 7%.
Other notable declines included LG Innotek and LG Display, which dropped 10% and 7.7%, respectively. Japan's semiconductor sector also faced heavy losses, with Advantest down 12.2% and Tokyo Electron down 7.3%. SoftBank Group saw an 11.6% decline, and Kioxia Holdings fell nearly 10%. In Taiwan, TSMC's shares slid 9.6%, while Foxconn's stocks dropped 9.4% and 9.1%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also suffered a significant loss of 12.2%. This widespread selling reflects investor anxiety about the viability of the AI investment boom and the potential for reduced demand for AI chips and infrastructure