Asian Tech and AI-Linked Stocks Plunge Amid Global Sell-Off
SoftBank Group Corp. led a sharp decline across Asian equity markets, tumbling 13% as investors rushed to exit crowded tech trades. Japan’s Nikkei 225 breached the 50,000 level for the first time in weeks, with the Topix index sliding 2.27%. Semiconductor-related stocks bore the brunt—Advantest plummeted over 8%, while Renesas Electronics dropped 5.48%.
The rout extended regionally: South Korea’s Kospi plunged 5.97% as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix lost 7% and 8% respectively. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. slipped 2%, compounding pressure on tech-heavy benchmarks. Even China’s Alibaba and Tencent fell over 3% and 2%, dragging the Hang Seng and CSI 300 indices lower.
The sell-off mirrored overnight weakness in U.S. AI peers. Palantir Technologies Inc. sank 8% despite strong earnings, while Nvidia, AMD, and Oracle retreated. Market participants attributed the carnage to profit-taking in this year’s high-flying tech themes, though cryptocurrency markets remained conspicuously absent from the turmoil.
