Asian Chip Stocks Plunge After Sharp Nasdaq Sell-Off, Samsung and SK Hynix Lead Declines

Asian semiconductor stocks plunged following a wave of selling on the Nasdaq. Samsung Electronics shares dropped 6.2% and SK Hynix fell 7.4%, driving South Korea's Kospi index down 4.4%. Tokyo's market declined 1.5%, Shanghai fell 0.9%, while Hong Kong, which was closed the previous day, rose 1%.

The sell-off in chip stocks originated on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq closed down 0.7% amid heavy losses in semiconductor companies. Micron fell 10.4%, Sandisk dropped 10.5%, and Intel declined 9%. Other major tech firms including Nvidia and Broadcom also saw declines between 1% and 2%. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 were relatively stable, with minor decreases.

Meta Platforms surged 8.8% after Bloomberg reported it plans to launch a cloud computing service to compete with Amazon and Google. The Nasdaq's weakness reflects a particularly poor start to July, with investors aggressively selling chip stocks. Wall Street will be closed the following day for the US Independence Day holiday, marking 250 years since the country's founding.

This regional market reaction highlights the global impact of the semiconductor sector's volatility and investor caution as tech stocks face renewed pressure.