AI Data Center Stocks Lead Global Selloff Spreading to Europe and Asia

Key Facts

A selloff in technology stocks linked to artificial intelligence spread to global markets, after major Asian indexes fell Friday following sharp losses on Wall Street in the previous session. The Associated Press said stocks of companies involved in building AI data centers led the decline in the U.S. market. In Tokyo and Seoul, the Nikkei and Kospi indexes each fell about 6%, the agency reported. The moves came amid concerns that the U.S. midterm election results could halt or slow data center projects. No available report established the FTSE 100’s closing level in Friday’s session.

Thursday’s losses were broad across the United States: the S&P 500 fell 4.4%, its worst session since the market turmoil linked to tariffs in April 2025. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,833 points, or 3.4%, while the Nasdaq lost 5.5%, according to the Associated Press. The Nasdaq was thus down 11.9% from its peak in the previous month, entering correction territory, which the report defines as a decline of more than 10%. Losses in stocks tied to AI infrastructure showed the severity of pressure on the sector: Nvidia fell 9.3% and AMD dropped 17.3%. CoreWeave shares also fell 9.8% and GE Vernova shares lost 7.5% in the same session.

The Associated Press linked the selloff to concerns about AI data center projects, including the possibility they could be halted or slowed following Democratic victories in the U.S. midterm elections. Those concerns put the spending needed to expand the sector’s infrastructure at the center of debate over stocks of companies that depend on that expansion continuing. In Britain, the FTSE 100 had fallen 0.4% Thursday after the Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time in three years, the agency reported. That was before the global selloff extended into Friday’s session, and the report does not establish that the bank’s decision caused the move in British stocks. The bank approved a 0.25 percentage point rate increase to 4%, in an 8-to-1 vote at a meeting that ended on 4 November.

Inflation expectations form another backdrop to the Bank of England’s decision: the bank said U.K. consumer price inflation was 3.5% in September and is expected to rise to about 5% by mid-2027 as energy prices continue to climb. One member of the Monetary Policy Committee voted for a larger increase of 0.5 percentage points, which would have raised the rate to 4.25%. In the United States, the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.84% Thursday from 4.90% at Wednesday’s close. The yield had reached 4.95% on election night and topped 5.30% in the previous month, according to data cited by the Associated Press. The yield’s move shows a decline in that session alongside the drop in stocks, without the agency identifying a single cause.

In energy markets, Brent crude rose 3.9% to $98.29 a barrel Thursday, recovering part of a drop of nearly 9% the previous day, according to the Associated Press. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said, "The best thing that could happen is for the conflict in the Middle East to be resolved, there is no doubt about that," referring to the conflict weighing on oil prices and inflation. The Bank of England set 17 December 2026 as the date of its next monetary policy decision. The path of inflation and energy prices remains in the background for British markets ahead of the decision. Friday’s trading figures in Asia confirm that the decline extended to sessions outside the United States, while the FTSE 100’s closing level remains unverified in the available facts.