The crash begins on Wall Street
According to The Guardian’s account, Thursday’s trading session saw US investors sell tech stocks en masse. The Nasdaq lost 5.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,833.06 points (3.44%), and the S&P 500 shed 4.36%. The Financial Times, cited by the source, calculates that the market capitalization lost by US-listed companies exceeded $3.2 trillion, the largest decline recorded since the start of the millennium.
Asia in the red and tensions over chips
The decline spread to Asia-Pacific markets. Japan’s Nikkei index lost almost 6%, its worst decline since April 7, 2025, while South Korea’s KOSPI fell 6.7% and Taiwan’s TAIEX 4.5%. Among the worst-hit stocks were memory chip makers: SanDisk fell 22%, Micron and AMD 17% each, while Nvidia led the Dow Jones losses with a drop of more than 9%. Christopher Forbes of CMC Markets described the situation as a disaster, citing margin calls and client complaints.
The link to the vote and underlying doubts
At the root of the sell-off, according to the analysts cited by the Guardian, are concerns about the outcome of the midterm elections, with the Democratic advance seen as a possible brake on the construction of artificial intelligence infrastructure: Democrats are more critical of data centers, and this could slow investment. Kyle Rodda of Capital.com speaks of a brutal sell-off, fueled by fears about the future of AI development. The source notes that political and regulatory risks come at a time when the sector was already showing signs of weakness, with the Magnificent Seven’s results below expectations and a slowdown in artificial intelligence spending.
The article also reports the reaction of President Donald Trump, who on social media attributed the crash to the Democrats and, in a second message, to the voters themselves. These are statements reported by the source, not a verified assessment.
To be verified
The actual impact of political decisions on investment in the sector and the market’s resilience remain to be confirmed in the coming days, also pending the US employment report and the Michigan consumer confidence index, cited by the source as events to watch. The source also notes that European markets were expected to open lower, with futures on the FTSE 100 and DAX down more than 1%.
