{"text":[[{"start":9.28,"text":"Asian markets tumbled on Thursday following sharp falls for American chip stocks on Wall Street overnight as investors continued to fret about rising inflation, the US midterm elections and the future earnings of AI groups."}],[{"start":22.74,"text":"In Seoul the semiconductor-heavy Kospi fell 7.7 per cent, with bellwethers SK Hynix declining almost 11 per cent and Samsung Electronics down 9.3 per cent."}],[{"start":34.46,"text":"In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 sank 4.5 per cent, with OpenAI investor SoftBank sliding almost 10 per cent and semiconductor and memory maker Kioxia losing 11 per cent."}],[{"start":46.68,"text":"“People are just getting a little bit panicked at the moment,” said Song Zhe at BNP Paribas Asset Management."}],[{"start":53.76,"text":"Chinese stocks were also hit, with Shanghai’s CSI 300 index falling as much as 1.8 per cent to the lowest level since August 2025."}],[{"start":63.6,"text":"The tech-focused Star 50 index lost 2.4 per cent, giving up all its gains for the year, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped almost 1 per cent."}],[{"start":71.96,"text":"“This is a positioning unwind mainly from institutional investors in China like insurance companies. They have to sell in a down market,” said Song."}],[{"start":81.48,"text":"Nasdaq futures declined 0.8 per cent after the tech-heavy index dropped 2 per cent on Wednesday. S&P 500 futures were down 0.3 per cent after the index ended 1.1 per cent lower."}],[{"start":93.86,"text":"The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the major US chip companies, fell 4.3 per cent on Wednesday, leaving it down almost 12 per cent since last Tuesday."}],[{"start":104.12,"text":"Rising fuel prices triggered by the Iran war pushed US inflation to a higher-than-expected 3.7 per cent in September in data released on Wednesday."}],[{"start":113.44,"text":"Hao Hong, chief investment officer for hedge fund Lotus Asset Management, said the high inflation reading, as well as lower-than-expected earnings from Anthropic, had hurt sentiment for AI-related companies."}],[{"start":124.76,"text":"The declines in Korea follow a historic AI-driven rally that had made the Kospi one of the world’s hottest markets, with the index rising from under 2,300 points in April 2025 to more than 9,300 this June."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":138.34,"text":"Since their peaks, SK Hynix shares have collapsed by almost 58 per cent, while Samsung Electronics is down 44 per cent."}],[{"start":146.28,"text":"BNP’s Song added that the announcement by China’s CXMT of progress in cutting-edge DRam chip technology had added to long-term concerns for the sector."}],[{"start":156.32,"text":"“This year we have been reminded again and again . . . that China is really a serious player in chipmaking and also AI development,” he said. “You should treat China as a serious player in chipmaking and also AI.”"}],[{"start":170.08,"text":"Other AI-linked stocks were also hit hard in South Korea on Thursday, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a supplier of components for AI servers, falling 15 per cent. Hyosung Heavy Industries, which has benefited from surging demand for power equipment for data centres, dropped 13 per cent."}],[{"start":187.68,"text":"Chan Lee of Petra Capital Management in Seoul said the Korean sell-off appeared to be driven more by foreign outflows “rather than a fundamental change in the long-term AI outlook”."}],[{"start":197.74,"text":"Steve Donzé, head of investment at Pictet Asset Management Japan, said that jitters were growing ahead of the US midterm elections."}],[{"start":204.36,"text":"“There’s thinking going on that the US administration in its current form is the most AI-friendly administration you could think of,” he said. “Any departure from that unity of Congress and executive with the midterms looming could imply AI regulation risks.”"}],[{"start":222.42,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792035152_1399.mp3"}