AI selloff drives the Nasdaq into correction and hits Asia
The Nasdaq composite fell 5.52% to 24,315.00 on Thursday, 11.9% below its record, and the chip index lost 12.25%. South Korea’s Kospi triggered a circuit breaker on Friday.
Source published · In the Daily Brief of 6 November 2026
Filed under Markets, AI industry
The S&P 500 fell 4.4% to 7,353.73, its worst day since April 2025, and more than erased Wednesday’s post-election gain. The Dow lost 1,833.06 points to 51,523.06. The Nasdaq 100 dropped 6.36%, erasing $2.3tn in value. AMD and Micron each fell about 17% and Nvidia 9.26%. Traders cited fears of data centre moratoriums after Democratic wins in the midterm elections and, according to Bloomberg, tighter oversight by Microsoft of some neocloud projects. Charlie McElligott of Nomura pointed to hedge funds locking in gains, and Vanda Research recorded the heaviest retail selling since March 2020.
Credit markets moved too. Reuters reported that credit default swaps on CoreWeave and SpaceX hit records. US data were firm: productivity rose at a 3.6% annualised rate in the third quarter, unit labour costs fell 0.7% and initial jobless claims dropped to 189,000. Expectations of a Federal Reserve rate rise in December eased, Kitco reported, and the 10-year yield closed at 4.84%.
The selling reached Asia on Friday. The Kospi triggered a 20-minute halt after falling 8% and traded below 5,000. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell more than 7% by mid-morning, below 60,000 for the first time since May.