{"text":[[{"start":11.05,"text":"Global tech stocks dropped sharply on Friday, putting an index of US semiconductor companies on track for its worst week since last year’s “liberation day” market rout, as investors cooled on some of the biggest winners from the AI boom."}],[{"start":26.1,"text":"Asian markets took their lead from a steep drop overnight on Wall Street, with Japan’s tech-heavy Nikkei 225 index down 4 per cent and China’s CSI 300 weakening 3.6 per cent. Markets in South Korea, which have faced the most volatility from the AI trade, were closed."}],[{"start":43.25,"text":"“People were using Japanese names to make some very aggressive bets on tech and AI, and they are bailing out,” said a broker in Tokyo."}],[{"start":51.5,"text":"Futures pointed to the US market opening lower, with those for the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indices down 1.6 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively. "}],[{"start":62.45,"text":"The Philadelphia Semiconductor index, which tracks the major US chip companies, has fallen 8.5 per cent this week, its biggest weekly drop since Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs sent the market tumbling in April 2025."}],[{"start":77.25,"text":"The chip index is now 19 per cent below the record high it reached in June, after a volatile month for chip and memory stocks. "}],[{"start":84.45,"text":"The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.9 per cent in early trading, with ASML, the world’s biggest maker of chip-manufacturing equipment, down 3.9 per cent."}],[{"start":94.9,"text":"The losses in Asia were concentrated in technology stocks. Japanese chipmaker Kioxia led declines, falling more than 16 per cent. It is down more than half from its June peak. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, fell more than 7 per cent."}],[{"start":113.85000000000001,"text":"In China, AI start-ups Z.ai and MiniMax declined 27 per cent and 16 per cent respectively after rival Moonshot AI debuted a large language model with capabilities approaching those of cutting-edge US labs such as Anthropic."}],[{"start":130.3,"text":"The tech sell-off came after the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.5 per cent on Thursday, as investors dumped US memory and computer storage stocks. Sandisk, Western Digital and Seagate were all down more than 9 per cent, while chipmakers Intel and Micron slid about 6 per cent."}],[{"start":148.5,"text":"The declines “show the uncomfortable reliance of so many markets and so much economic activity on the AI boom at the moment”, said Richard Yetsenga, chief economist and head of research at ANZ."}],[{"start":161.15,"text":"Even after recent selling, Asia’s chipmakers remain some of this year’s most successful AI trades. Kioxia has risen more than 2,000 per cent in the past year, while TSMC has more than doubled."}],[{"start":173.75,"text":"Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which make the high-bandwidth memory chips used by Nvidia, are up more than 200 per cent and 500 per cent respectively in the past year."}],[{"start":186.45,"text":"Analysts said geopolitical concerns, including over rising energy prices from a reboot of tensions in Iran and the potential for monetary policy tightening globally, had given investors an opportunity to take profits."}],[{"start":199.95,"text":"“We’re in an environment where inflation in general goes up easily and comes down with difficulty,” said Yetsenga."}],[{"start":208.1,"text":"“Sentiment has shifted,” said Wee Khoon Chong, a senior strategist at BNY. “Central banks are less dovish than we thought they would be. We have round two of Middle East tensions and oil prices are higher again. It’s bringing inflation back into the frame.”"}],[{"start":224.29999999999998,"text":"Hedge fund managers said despite maintaining substantial hedges, their losses had continued to worsen as volatility in the market soared. The situation meant funds’ concerns over mounting losses were “overwhelming rational decision-making”, said one broker."}],[{"start":246.84999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784275832_6025.mp3"}