Aerial view of vehicles traveling on a road through the central business district of Beijing, China.
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Japanese Nikkei Stock Average It fell below $50,000 on Wednesday as Asian markets widened as investors fled AI stocks.
The Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.5% to close at 50,212.27 after falling more than 4%, while the TOPIX fell 1.26% to close at 3,268.29. Japanese stocks Softbank Group Shares plunged more than 10% on Wednesday, following declines in their U.S. peers amid broader declines in AI-related companies in Asia.
Korean Kospi fell more than 2% to close at 4,004.42, and semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix posted losses of more than 4% and 1%, respectively. The small-cap Kosdaq fell 2.66% to close at 901.89.
According to LSEG data, the Korean won fell 0.6% against the dollar to 1,449.50 won, its lowest since April.
hong kong Hang Seng Index Mainland China’s CSI 300 index rose 0.19% to 4,627.26, but was flat at 25,935.41.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.13% to 8,802, posting a relatively modest loss.
In overnight trading in the US, the S&P 500 fell 1.17% to close at 6,771.55 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.04% to close at 23,348.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 251.44 points, or 0.53%, to 47,085.24.
Palantir shares fell about 8% even as the software company beat Wall Street expectations for the third quarter and provided strong guidance on the back of growth in its AI business.
The rise in AI stocks has pushed the S&P 500’s forward price-earnings ratio to more than 23 times, near its highest level since 2000, according to FactSet.
As these stocks have driven the overall market to new highs in recent months, Ameriprise’s Anthony Saglimbene said in an interview with CNBC that valuations are starting to get “very high” barring a pullback.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
