Kospi Closes Down 6% After a Circuit Breaker and the Nikkei Falls Into a Bear Market as the AI Rout Reaches Asia

The Herald quoted Lee Kyoung-min of Daishin Securities calling the reaction excessive, since a complete halt to data-centre building is unlikely. Reuters carried a harsher word from Saxo's Charu Chanana, who said there was clearly an element of panic. Local reports said the South Korean government convened an emergency meeting during the session and that losses narrowed afterwards, but they gave no detail of any measure.

What happened to the Nikkei, Taiwan and the rest of Asia?

The damage followed the chip supply chain. Late in Tokyo trading Reuters-based coverage had the Nikkei about 5.9 percent lower after a fall of more than 7 percent earlier in the day, with Kioxia down 14 percent, SoftBank 11 percent and TSMC 8.5 percent in the first reports. Taiwan's market fell as much as 9 percent at one point, though we could not confirm a closing figure when this piece was filed.

Not everything fell together. The ASX 200 closed 0.5 percent lower at 9,020.80, the Hang Seng was down about 0.5 percent and the Shanghai Composite about 1.1 percent, giving back a little of Thursday's gains. Safe-haven buying showed in bonds, with the US 10-year yield near 4.84 percent.

What should investors watch next?

Europe was pointing to a fall of about 1 percent at the open, and the US October jobs report is due at 13.30 UTC. A strong number could keep the rate-hike argument alive for a market already worried about borrowing costs; a weak one could change the story again. Seoul has now shut for the week with the index perched on 5,000, and the question for Monday is whether a level that looked like a floor in February still holds.