Chip stocks slide in US and Asia as AI jitters rattle investors
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- South Korea's Kospi trading was halted by circuit breakers after an 8% slide Tuesday, eventually closing 10.8% lower, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both plunging more than 13%
- Nvidia fell 5% in New York on Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported it is in talks to provide around $250bn for OpenAI's data-centre project, losing its position as the world's most valuable listed company
- Apple reclaimed the top market-cap crown after rising roughly 25% this year — a gain analysts at Providend attribute to it being "one of the few tech firms not taking part in the AI race"
- Japan's Nikkei 225 closed nearly 4% lower, but major European indices (FTSE 100, France's Cac 40, Germany's Dax 40) shrugged off the AI-spending concerns and opened up about 0.6%
- CXMT shares soared nearly 470% on their Shanghai debut, with the Chinese DRAM chip maker saying it will use IPO proceeds to expand production and R&D for AI data centres
Why it matters: Apple's 25% YTD gain restored its crown as most-valuable company precisely because it sits out Big Tech's AI infrastructure arms race. As Nvidia reportedly commits $250bn to OpenAI, investors are rewarding the holdouts while pressuring firms deploying capital before AI returns materialize.
