European stock markets have fallen sharply as a rout in US tech stocks spread across the Atlantic, after the Democrats’ midterms victory sparked fears of a slowdown in the AI industry.
A sell-off on Wall Street on Thursday was followed by sharp falls in Asian stocks markets on Friday. The investor sentiment then reached London, where the market was, at one stage, poised for its worst day since March.
The FTSE ۱۰۰ index, which tracks blue-chip shares listed in London, was down ۲۰۷ points, or ۱.۹%, at ۱۰,۵۷۵ points in mid-morning trading. But by mid-afternoon it had recovered to a ۱.۵% fall, helped by a small bounce in US stocks when Wall Street reopened.
Germany’s Dax index was down ۲.۳% in afternoon trading, France’s Cac ۴۰ dropped by ۱.۳% and Spain’s Ibex lost ۱.۱%.
Susannah Streeter, the chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: “The tech sell-off has intensified, with the pain of the brutal sell-off on Wall Street carried straight through to Asia and knocking sentiment in Europe.
“Big worries are colliding – the build-out of datacentres looks set to slow, which risks shredding the spending spree underpinning the boom, right at the time that investors have become super nervous about returns on this massive investment.”
But there were signs that calm might be returning to Wall Street on Friday, where tech stocks rallied in early trading, lifting the S&P ۵۰۰ share index by about ۱% and the Nasdaq ۱.۸%. That followed a stronger-than-expected employment report that showed the US economy added ۱۶۵,۰۰۰ new jobs in October, pulling the unemployment rate down to ۴.۱%.
On Thursday the Nasdaq share index had its worst day in ۱۹ months after slumping ۵.۵%.
Chip stocks led the slump on Thursday, with the memory maker SanDisk tumbling by ۲۲% and the hard drive maker Western Digital falling by ۱۷%. Wall Street’s “fear index”, the Vix, jumped by more than ۶۰% to its highest levels since the early weeks of the Iran war, in a sign of rising market volatility.
The heavy falls continued in Asia on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei ۲۲۵ index sinking ۶% and South Korea’s Kospi index tumbling more than ۸%.
“It’s actually a bit of a disaster,” said Christopher Forbes, the head of Asia and Middle East at CMC Markets. “[Clients] were long index, long stocks, and they all got carried out. All night, all day – we had client margin calls, client complaints … because it’s a very emotional thing, right? People are wedded to their positions and views on a stock or outcome, and you’re telling them: ‘Look, you’ve just lost money.’”
Chris Beauchamp, the chief market analyst at the investing and trading platform IG, said: “Yesterday’s brutal session marked a dramatic turnaround from Wednesday, but with AI fears still prominent there is a risk that there is much more selling to come.
“Investors remain on watch for a potential resumption of the Iran conflict, and are nervously watching the oil price after its slump earlier in the week. All in all it remains a very febrile atmosphere.”
However, despite the sharp losses suffered on global stock markets around the world, most indices are still up for the year. The Nasdaq Composite index remains up ۶.۵% since the start of January – even though it is more than ۱۰% below its peak.
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The FTSE ۱۰۰ has gained over ۷% in ۲۰۲۶ – but it is now more than ۳۰۰ points below the record high set in July.
Mohit Kumar, an economist at the investment bank Jefferies, said that while he did not expect a quick rebound from Thursday’s losses in the US, he also did not believe it marked the “start of the unwind of the AI trade”.
He said: “AI investment has been a key driver of US growth and we do not see the Democrats as giving up on this growth engine. Datacentres and AI infrastructure also create jobs and Democrats would be reluctant to let those jobs move on to other states or outside the country.”
Stock market tremors have also hit the London Metal Exchange, with copper poised for its biggest weekly fall since March.
Benchmark three-month copper, a key metal used in the semiconductor, electronics and automotive industry, has dropped ۰.۶۱%, leaving it positioned for a ۲.۷۹% fall this week.
Craig Lang, a principal analyst at the consultancy CRU, said the price of copper was increasingly influenced by the AI market and “sentiment towards datacentre expansion”.
