Global market rout deepens after midterms intensify AI fears
Stocks plummet as election outcome adds to growing fears about AI01:26Get more newsonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleNov. 6, 2026, 3:33 AM ESTBy Mithil AggarwalHONG KONG — An intensifying rout of tech stocks hit global markets Friday, with a surge of red tickers spreading from Wall Street to Asia and Europe after the blue wave of the U.S. midterm elections fueled fears over AI development.
The steep losses in Asia — Japan’s Nikkei suffered its worst week since 2020 — came after a dramatic plunge in U.S. tech stocks following the success of anti-AI candidates, which deepened concerns about the durability of the AI boom.
Some $2.3 billion in market value was wiped off the tech-focused Nasdaq 100, which dropped 6.3% on Thursday. Another $2.8 trillion was erased from the S&P 500’s market value as it fell 4.4% — their worst day in 18 months, when President Donald Trump’s global tariffs rocked markets.
U.S. futures were mixed early Friday, but European shares also opened lower after the dramatic selloff continued in Asia.
A board displaying the Nikkei Stock Average on Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via GettySouth Korea’s Kospi index tumbled more than 8%, triggering a temporary market-wide trading halt. There, AI data center memory suppliers Samsung and SK Hynix plunged more than 10% in the early hours, before recovering some of their losses. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell as much as 6%, entering bear-market territory.
In Taiwan, home to some of the most critical AI companies, including chip supplier TSMC, the benchmark TAIEX index dropped 9%.
Declining share prices displayed at the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp. headquarters in Taipei on Friday.An Rong Xu / Bloomberg via GettyLondon’s FTSE 100 index fell by 1.6% on Friday open, while the French and German indices, CAC40 and DAX, took similar hits.
“Markets are being punished according to their dependence on the U.S. AI infrastructure cycle,” Charu Chanana, Chief Investment Strategist at Singapore-based SAXO Markets, told NBC News in emailed comments.
The companies in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are “clearly highly linked to the global AI capex cycle and hence I am not surprised to see the magnitude of correction today following the sharp correction in the U.S.,” Tai Hui, J.P. Morgan’s APAC Chief Market Strategist, told NBC News in emailed comments.
The plunge came after the stunning midterm results that will see the rise of a crop of anti-AI and anti-data center politicians, including Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa in Texas, the largest data center market in the country.
Gina Hinojosa as she was announced as the next governor of Texas at her watch party in Austin on Tuesday.Mikala Compton / The Austin American-Statesman via GettyA Democratic Congress could tighten scrutiny of the industry, including AI infrastructure projects, which could cause delays and additional costs, adding to worries investors have about the profitability of these investments.
Recent months have been nothing short of a rollercoaster for Asian investors, who saw their paper fortunes grow by magnitudes in June during the AI stock boom, but have been suffering from a brutal recent sell-off.
Mithil AggarwalMithil Aggarwal is a Hong Kong-based reporter/producer for NBC News.
