US stocks plunge 3 per cent to 5.5 per cent on AI regulation fears
US stock markets suffered their biggest single-day drop since April, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling 3.4 per cent, 4.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively. AI-related chip and optical communication stocks were hit hardest, tumbling 10 to over 20 per cent amid fears of tighter AI regulati
US stock markets suffered their biggest single-day drop since April on 5 November, with the three major indexes falling between 3.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent, erasing gains made after the midterm elections, Hong Kong's RTHK reported. Artificial intelligence (AI) related shares were the hardest hit, with multiple chip and optical communication stocks plunging by over 10 per cent to more than 20 per cent amid concerns about tighter AI regulation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as nearly 1,870 points before closing at 51,523 points, down 1,833 points, a decline of more than 3.4 per cent. That marked a roughly one-month low.
The S&P 500 closed at 7,353 points, down 334 points, a drop of about 4.4 per cent. That was the index's lowest level in over three months, with the market capitalisation of its constituent companies evaporating by about US$3 trillion in a single day.
The Nasdaq composite index closed at 24,315 points, down 1,421 points, a fall of more than 5.5 per cent. That was roughly a six-and-a-half-month low. The index has now retreated nearly 12 per cent from its closing record high set on 6 October, confirming it has entered a technical correction zone.
The so-called 'fear index', the VIX, surged about 70 per cent to a more than seven-month high. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 12 per cent, its biggest single-day drop in over six-and-a-half years. Among individual stocks, Sandisk fell more than 22 per cent, while AMD, Western Digital, Micron and Lumentum dropped between more than 17 per cent and nearly 19 per cent.
Major technology stocks also saw significant losses. SpaceX, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Intel and Tesla fell between 9 per cent and nearly 11 per cent. Apple, which reportedly planned to raise about US$7 billion through a bond issuance, saw its share price fall 1.5 per cent by the close.