Asian Tech Stocks Crash as US Inflation Sparks AI Sell-off
South Korean and Taiwanese markets plummeted Thursday as high US inflation and AI spending concerns triggered circuit breakers and massive losses for semiconductor giants.
Asian stock markets experienced a severe technology-led crash on October 15, 2026, driven by higher-than-expected U.S. inflation data and growing skepticism over the sustainability of artificial intelligence spending. The Korea Exchange activated circuit breakers and sell-sidecars on both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices after both plummeted approximately 8%, marking the first simultaneous trigger since July 29. The KOSPI eventually closed down 7.57 percent at 5,554.22.
Semiconductor giants bore the brunt of the volatility. SK Hynix shares sank between 11% and 12%, pushing its market capitalization below the 1,000 trillion won threshold, while Samsung Electronics dropped between 9% and 11%. In Taiwan, the Taiex plunged more than 1,500 points, falling 3.32 percent. Major firms including TSMC, Nanya Technology, and MediaTek saw significant losses as investors feared a hawkish Federal Reserve would increase financing costs for AI infrastructure.
Beyond macroeconomic pressures, investors reacted to warnings from executives at Broadcom, Intel, and Goldman Sachs regarding rising capital costs for data centers. Additional pressure came from China's ChangXin Memory Technologies, which plans to launch a new server-memory product by year-end. The rout extended to other markets, with Japan's Nikkei falling 4.12% and Europe's ASML declining over 6%. The volatility pushed the South Korean won past 1,350 per U.S. dollar and drove investors toward safe-haven assets, increasing gold prices to $4,160 a troy ounce.
