Growing concerns over AI investment, potential U.S. regulatory curbs and Democratic victories in the midterm elections have rattled investors, triggering a massive sell-off in semiconductor and technology stocks.
BY PC Bureau
November 6 — Stock markets across Asia tumbled Friday, extending a sharp Wall Street rout driven by investor fears that Democratic gains in the U.S. midterm elections could slow the artificial-intelligence infrastructure boom that has propelled global equities to record highs.
South Korea’s Kospi index plunged more than 8 percent shortly after the open, triggering a trading halt on the exchange. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell about 6 percent, while Taiwan’s Taiex dropped roughly 8 percent in morning trading. The declines hit technology and semiconductor shares particularly hard, reflecting Asia’s central role in the global supply chain for chips and components used in AI data centers.
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The selling followed a bruising Thursday session in the U.S. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite sank 5.52 percent, entering correction territory after closing more than 10 percent below its Oct. 6 record high. It was the index’s worst day since April 2025. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average also posted their steepest losses since then, with roughly $2.5 trillion in market value erased.
The slide reversed Wednesday’s post-election rally, when major indexes had jumped on the initial midterm results. Beneath the surface, however, shares of semiconductor companies and firms tied to the AI data-center buildout had already been under pressure. That selling intensified Thursday in the US market.
🚨 THE MARKET KNOWS WHAT’S COMING 🚨
TOTAL FINANCIAL CARNAGE ON WALL STREET! 📉💥
Panic has officially turned into a full-blown nightmare on the trading floor as fear sweeps Wall Street over the dramatic control shift in Congress! 😱🏦
The numbers are staggering, unfolding in real-time, and flashing bright, bloody red:
The Dow has TANKED by a devastating -1,600+ points! 📉💔 (Reversing yesterday’s rally entirely in a brutal about-face!)
The NASDAQ has plummeted over -1,300 points! 💻💥 (Plunging more than 5% and officially dragging the tech index straight into correction mode—down 10% from its recent highs!)
$2 TRILLION vanished instantly from the U.S. stock market as the shockwave hit! 💸💨
Another HALF A TRILLION was viciously erased in just the past hour alone! ⏱️🔥
The grand total wipeout? A jaw-dropping $2.5 TRILLION GONE SO FAR TODAY! 🛑🌍
WHY IS WALL STREET BLEEDING? 🩸🔍
Markets are reacting with explosive terror to the political power shift. Investors are scrambling in absolute panic over looming legislative threats to major sectors—including technology giants, AI advancements, and looming regulatory crackdowns on data centers that fueled the massive market runs we just saw! ⚡🤖
The shock is absolute. The panic is real. And the market is sending an unmistakable warning message. 🔮⚠️— CONSTITUTION X 🇺🇸 (@ConstitustionX) November 5, 2026
Democratic victories in U.S. raise regulation worries
Democrats secured control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate and flipped several contested state seats. A focal point for investors was Texas, where Democratic Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa has called for a temporary moratorium on new data centers and the removal of certain tax incentives for developers. Texas has attracted large investments from Google, Meta, Oracle, OpenAI and others seeking to expand AI computing capacity.
Market participants in the U.S. worry that Democratic lawmakers could tighten oversight of data-center construction, citing environmental impacts, energy and water use, and local community concerns. Those issues featured prominently in some midterm campaigns.
U.S. technology giants often described as “hyperscalers” have spent heavily on new data centers to support AI models. A Columbia Business School study estimated that AI-related infrastructure investment accounted for nearly all observed U.S. GDP growth by the end of last year. Asian chipmakers and equipment suppliers have benefited from that demand.
Broad losses in AI-related shares
Thursday’s sell-off in the U.S. market Swas widespread. Nvidia shares dropped 9.3 percent, erasing their gains for the year. A closely watched index of chipmakers fell 12.3 percent, its worst session in roughly six and a half years. Tesla declined 11 percent and SpaceX fell 9 percent. CoreWeave and Nebius, companies that provide computing power for AI workloads, plunged about 10 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Qualcomm slid 9.5 percent after missing estimates and citing higher memory-chip costs.
The Nasdaq 100 sank 6.36 percent, its worst day since March 2020. All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 closed lower. Wall Street’s fear gauge, the VIX, surged roughly 70 percent, its largest one-day increase in nearly two years.
Demand for safer assets pushed the 10-year Treasury yield down to 4.84 percent, its lowest level in two months.
The episode continues a year of pronounced swings in several Asian markets, especially the Kospi, as investors have debated the sustainability and eventual profitability of heavy AI investment. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 are now down roughly 12 percent and 6 percent, respectively, from their early-October peaks.
