Morning Wrap: Tech Crash and a Black Thursday for Global Markets

📈 US Equity Markets

• Yesterday’s session on Wall Street ended with a sharp sell-off that swept across all major US benchmark indices.

• The Nasdaq 100 took the hardest hit, tumbling 6.4% to mark its worst single-day performance since 2020.

• Other major benchmarks also recorded severe losses: the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.5%, the S&P 500 slid 4.4%, the Dow Jones declined 3.4%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 fell 4.5%.

• The heaviest selling pressure concentrated on technology stocks, particularly within the semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors.

• Chipmakers and component suppliers endured an exceptionally steep downturn: AMD shares plunged 17%, Micron dropped 17.4%, and Broadcom lost 10.4%.

• Market leaders were not spared either: Nvidia fell 9%, while Tesla shares dropped 10%.

• Across the broader tech universe, the rout deepened for SanDisk (plummeting over 22%) and IREN (down nearly 17%).

• The deteriorating sentiment is primarily fueled by mounting concerns over the future growth prospects of the AI sector, the massive scale of capital expenditures on data centers, and potential regulatory hurdles.

• Markets are adopting an increasingly cautious stance toward prior projections regarding AI infrastructure buildout speeds, directly triggering widespread profit-taking across the entire technology sector.

🌏 Asian Equity Markets

• Thursday’s sell-off originating on Wall Street spilled over into Asian markets on Friday, where investors continued aggressively reducing exposure to tech equities.

• The fiercest wave of selling hit Japan and South Korea, whose economies and stock exchanges maintain an exceptionally high dependency on the semiconductor industry and AI infrastructure buildout.

• Key regional benchmarks registered precipitous drops: South Korea's KOSPI tumbled around 6%, closely mirrored by Japan's Nikkei 225 sliding approximately 6%.

• Selling pressure was heavily concentrated on semiconductor manufacturers and companies linked to the expansion of artificial intelligence.

• In South Korea, leading memory chip producers suffered heavy declines: SK Hynix plunged about 10%, while Samsung Electronics shed around 5%.

• In Japan, bears applied heavy pressure to names such as Advantest, Kioxia Holdings, and tech conglomerate SoftBank.

🏛️ US Politics & Regulatory Environment

• Recent political developments in the United States have triggered a marked shift in market sentiment toward the artificial intelligence sector.

• US special election results highlighted mounting public resistance to data center expansion, driven by heavy power consumption, rising electricity utility costs for local consumers, and limited long-term local job creation.

• According to media reports, Marco Rubio, currently serving as US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, may step down from Donald Trump’s administration in the near future.

• Insiders cited by the press indicate that this potential departure is linked to groundwork for the 2028 presidential race, in which Rubio reportedly plans to seek the Republican nomination.

• Speculation regarding leadership changes intensified following the Republicans' defeat in congressional special elections, which resulted in Democrats taking control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

• Political analysts project that, facing these unfavorable election outcomes, up to five members of Trump's cabinet are currently weighing exits from the administration.

📊 Macroeconomics

• The focal point of today’s macroeconomic calendar is the release of the October US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report, representing the single most critical event of the trading session for investors.

• According to consensus estimates, economists expect nonfarm payroll employment to have added a modest 64,000 jobs, compared to the 29,000 jobs reported in September.

• The US unemployment rate is projected to remain unchanged at 4.2%.

🪙 Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin (BTC) came under severe selling pressure, tracking the broader deterioration in risk appetite across global financial markets.

• Following the tech-led rout on Wall Street, investors swiftly moved to de-risk portfolios, leading BTC to erase prior gains and slide back below the $76,000 threshold.

• A parallel decline hit Ethereum (ETH), which pulled back toward the $2,200 level.

🛢️ Energy Commodities

• Crude oil futures are staging a mild technical rebound following recent steep losses.

• Global benchmark Brent crude rose over 0.5%, hovering around the psychological $100 per barrel mark.

• Meanwhile, US benchmark WTI crude is advancing toward $92 per barrel.

🥇 Precious Metals

• Precious metals are experiencing a temporary deterioration in market sentiment.

• Gold futures are paring recent advances, dropping by approximately 1% to consolidate around $4,050 per ounce.

• Over the same period, silver prices are trading around $51.50 per ounce.