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Kospi Halted, Nikkei in Bear Market After 12% US Chip Drop

AI Trade — Kospi Halted, Nikkei Enters a Bear Market After US Chip Stocks Lose 12%

Korea's Kospi fell as much as 8.8% and stopped trading for 20 minutes, Japan's Nikkei closed 20.6% under its high and Taiwan fell as much as 9%, after Thursday's 4.4% drop in the S&P 500 and 5.5% in the Nasdaq. Asia closed well off its lows and Nasdaq futures are up 0.8%. After hours, JFrog rose 22% and Cloudflare 14%; Natera fell 16% and DraftKings 22%. The jobs report is at 13:30 UTC.

In this edition

AMD EWY EWT INDA ASML SAP VGK XLK

The Morning 10 Fri, Nov 6, 2026 ~90 seconds 09:00 CET

The ten points

Asia is where the AI trade shows first each morning, and this morning it took the full weight of Thursday's sell-off in New York. Korea's Kospi fell as much as 8.8% to 4,911.28, under 5,000, and set off a circuit breaker that stopped trading for 20 minutes (CNBC, Bloomberg). It closed down 6.0% at 5,059.69. Japan's Nikkei fell 6.0% to 57,434.77, 20.6% under its 52-week closing high, the line usually called a bear market. Taiwan fell as much as 9.0% and closed down 4.5%. SK Hynix lost 10.4%, SoftBank 10.8%.

The selling came from Wall Street. On Thursday the S&P 500 fell 4.36% to 7,353.73 and the Nasdaq 5.52% to 24,315.00, the worst day for the three averages since April 2025 (CNBC); the Dow lost 1,833 points. The chip index SOX fell 12.25%, Micron and AMD 17%, Nvidia 9.3%. All eleven S&P sectors fell. The causes in the reporting: Tuesday's midterms, which handed Democrats control of Congress, a call by Texas's governor-elect to stop data-center building, and hedge funds selling the winners of the year before December.

Two things changed by the end of the Asian day. Asia closed well above its lows: Advantest went from down 16.4% to down 5.0%, Taiwan from down 9.0% to down 4.5%. And Nasdaq futures are up 0.8% while Dow futures are down 0.9%. After the close JFrog rose 22% and Cloudflare 14% on raised outlooks, while Natera fell 16%, DraftKings 22% and Atlassian 16%. The October jobs report comes at 13:30 UTC.

  1. AI Trade in Asia — Kospi trips a circuit breaker, Nikkei and Taiwan in bear markets
  2. Asia's AI Bellwethers — SK Hynix −10.4%, SoftBank −10.8%; Advantest recovers from −16.4% to −5.0%
  3. Europe's AI Infrastructure — chip makers fell 7% to 9% on Thursday while the STOXX 600 lost 0.4%
  4. Thursday in New York — S&P 500 −4.4% to its low of the day, Nasdaq in correction, chips −12%
  5. Why It Fell — the midterms, a Texas call to stop data centers, and funds selling the year's winners
  6. After Hours — JFrog +22%, Cloudflare +14%, Airbnb +11%; Natera −16%, DraftKings −22%
  7. Futures, Bonds, Gold, Bitcoin, Oil — Nasdaq futures +0.8%, TLT above 81.50, Bitcoin 75,400
  8. AI Indices — Rubin −9.9%, down 19.2% in a week; HALO −2.8%, AW40 −1.0%
  9. Earnings Record — five grades at Friday's close, four new windows from Thursday
  10. Today — October jobs report 13:30 UTC; grades at the close; Taiwan's steadying measures

  1. AI Trade in Asia — Kospi trips a circuit breaker, Nikkei and Taiwan in bear markets

    Structure
    What
    Korea's Kospi opened at 5,263.26, 2.2% under Thursday's close of 5,383.80, and never got back. It fell as far as 4,911.28, down 8.8%, which set off the exchange's circuit breaker and a 20-minute halt (CNBC, Bloomberg), and closed down 6.02% at 5,059.69. To slow forced selling, South Korea temporarily waived the 140% collateral rule brokers apply to margin accounts, a joint government statement said (Bloomberg). Japan's Nikkei opened at its high of the day, 60,374.35, fell as far as 56,745.81, down 7.1%, and closed down 5.96% at 57,434.77, its biggest one-day loss since April 2025 (Bloomberg). Taiwan's index fell as far as 37,837.05, down 9.0%, and closed down 4.51% at 39,701.64; the island's financial regulator was expected to announce measures to steady the market on Friday afternoon (Bloomberg). The rest of Asia fell much less. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 1.0% at 24,550 in the afternoon and Shanghai 1.1% lower near its close. India's Nifty 50 was up 0.6% at 24,689.80 in morning trade, at a three-month high. In New York on Thursday the Korea fund EWY fell 13.5% to 131.65 and the Taiwan fund EWT 11.5% to 85.88, while the India fund INDA closed flat at 50.02.
    If
    Kospi holds 4,911 and Taiwan holds 37,837 into next week.
    Why
    A bear market is a fall of 20% or more from a high. The Nikkei now sits 20.6% under its 52-week closing high of 72,366.34 and Taiwan 20.3% under 49,822.55. Korea is 20.8% under its 50-day average. These are the three markets made of AI hardware, and all three closed far above their lows: the buying that came in during the session matters as much as the fall.
    Then
    A second day of halts would put Korea's fall next to June and July. A close above 5,269, today's high, would mark the 8.8% low as the day the forced selling ran out.

  2. Asia's AI Bellwethers — SK Hynix −10.4%, SoftBank −10.8%; Advantest recovers from −16.4% to −5.0%

    Structure
    What
    In Korea SK Hynix closed down 10.44% at 1,132,000 won after a low of 1,089,000, down 13.8%; Samsung Electronics closed down 6.35% at 188,700 after a low down 11.1%. In Taiwan TSMC closed down 4.69% at 2,135 after opening at its low of 2,020, down 9.8%; Hon Hai fell 4.5% (low −9.6%) and MediaTek 2.0% after trading as much as 10.0% lower. In Tokyo Advantest, the chip-testing company, opened at 25,485, fell to 24,655, down 16.4%, and closed down 4.99% at 28,015. Tokyo Electron fell as far as −14.3% and closed down 5.60% at 8,263. SoftBank closed down 10.83% at 3,549 and the memory maker Kioxia down 8.72% at 8,511, both near their lows of the day. In Hong Kong, Tencent fell 2.4% and Alibaba 3.9%.
    If
    Advantest and Tokyo Electron keep today's recovery on Monday.
    Why
    Over two days Advantest has fallen 19.0% and SK Hynix 18.9%. The difference inside today's session is the story: chip-equipment and testing names bounced 11 to 12 points off their lows, while SoftBank, the investment holding company, and Kioxia, the memory maker, closed near their worst levels. Buyers came back for the toolmakers, not for the investment holding company or for memory.
    Then
    If Monday's Asia opens above today's closes, the chip-equipment bounce becomes the first sign of buyers. If SoftBank and Kioxia break today's lows, the selling has not run its course.
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  4. Europe's AI Infrastructure — chip makers fell 7% to 9% on Thursday while the STOXX 600 lost 0.4%

    Structure
    What
    Europe closed at 16:30 UTC on Thursday, before the worst of the New York session, and its index barely moved: the STOXX 600 fell 0.38% to 654.87 and Germany's DAX 0.43% to 26,325.01. Inside it the AI hardware names were sold hard. STMicroelectronics fell 9.34% to 37.06 euros, Infineon 8.54% to 45.95, BESI 7.30% to 140.90, ASM International 6.99% to 635.80 and ASML 6.55% to 1,250.00. The grid and power suppliers fell less: Siemens Energy 4.70%, ABB 4.20%, Prysmian 4.02%, Schneider Electric 1.60% and Nexans 0.17%. SAP rose 0.68%. The US-listed Europe fund VGK, which trades until the New York close, fell 2.02% on Thursday, a sign that Europe's open at 08:00 UTC still has New York's last two hours to absorb.
    If
    ASML holds 1,210.60, Thursday's low, after Europe's open.
    Why
    Europe had already sold its grid and power names on Wednesday (Siemens Energy −8.0%, Prysmian −6.9%). On Thursday the selling moved to the chip makers. The same order showed in New York: first the power suppliers to data centers, then the chips.
    Then
    A chip index that opens lower while SAP and the banks hold would repeat Wednesday's split between AI builders and AI users inside Europe.

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C · point 11 · members

Today in line 11: what Thursday sold and what it kept, why Asia closing far above its lows matters more than the low itself, how the June flush compares, and the three levels that tell us whether this is forced selling running out or the start of a longer slide.

The privileged, actionable read — what we do, and at which level — is in point 11, for members only.

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