Seoul and Taipei stocks tumble 3.6% as AI angst meets US midterm vote
South Korea's KOSPI and Taiwan's main index each fell about 3.6% on Tuesday, Taiwan's steepest one-day drop since late July, as Big Tech results and Election Day in the US kept investors wary.
A fresh wave of worry about artificial-intelligence spending hit global stocks on Tuesday, while investors waited for the outcome of the US midterm elections, Reuters reported.
Asia hit hardest
- South Korea’s KOSPI closed down 210.29 points (3.6%) at 5,648.79, Yonhap reported.
- Taiwan’s main index lost 1,612.60 points (3.59%) to 43,307.54, according to CNA — its steepest one-day decline since late July, Reuters said.
- Europe’s STOXX 600 was down 0.4% at 646.67, and MSCI’s global index slipped 0.29%.
Why investors are nervous
Lukewarm results and very large capital-spending plans from big technology companies have unsettled Wall Street in recent days; Apple’s weaker margin outlook added to the gloom. S&P 500 futures were down 0.17% after three straight losing sessions.
Reuters said opinion polls show Democrats likely to win the House, with the Senate too close to call; strategists quoted by the agency said the result could shape regulation of AI and data centres and move the dollar and bond yields.
Other markets
- The US 10-year Treasury yield rose 4.3 basis points to 4.937%; the dollar index was flat at 101.84.
- Brent rose 1.6% to $106.47 a barrel on mixed signals about ending the US-Iran war, after a US official told Reuters the US had struck Iran’s Qeshm Island.
- China’s yuan weakened after the People’s Bank of China said it would raise the foreign-exchange reserve ratio to slow the currency’s long rally.
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