Asian stock markets lost more than $1 trillion in market value on November 6 as a brutal selloff in technology and semiconductor stocks spread from Wall Street to Tokyo, Seoul and Shenzhen. Bitcoin dropped from above $80,800 to roughly $75,500, and about $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated within hours.
Nikkei Enters Bear Market as South Korea’s KOSPI Triggers Trading Halt
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell approximately 6%, entering bear market territory after sliding 21% from its June record and erasing roughly $450 billion in market value. SK Hynix dropped 12% and Samsung Electronics fell nearly 10% in Seoul, where the KOSPI tumbled as much as 8.8% to trigger a circuit breaker and closed around 4,912.
China’s Shenzhen index sat 30% below its June high, erasing roughly $210 billion. The Shanghai Composite declined 1.1%, the CSI 300 lost 1.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.8%, though its artificial intelligence (AI) sub-index dropped 4%. Taiwan’s TAIEX fell approximately 4.5% to 9% and entered bear market territory, trading more than 20% below its October record.
U.S. Tech Selloff Spreads Across Asian Equity Markets
The S&P 500 fell 4.36% to 7,353.73 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.52% to 24,315, entering correction territory at more than 10% below its October peak, CNN reported.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3.44%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index declined 10%. Nvidia, Broadcom, Oracle, CoreWeave and Nebius all fell sharply as investors priced in fears of slower AI infrastructure spending following Democratic midterm gains.
Bitcoin Plunge Triggers $1 Billion in Crypto Liquidations
The roughly $1 billion in crypto liquidations hit leveraged long positions hardest. About 88% of the liquidated contracts were longs, suggesting traders had positioned for a continuation of the post-election rally that lifted Bitcoin above $80,800 just hours earlier.
Coinbase shares fell roughly 10% to 11% and MicroStrategy dropped by a similar margin, linking the crypto selloff directly to the equity rout.
The broader decline was driven by investor fears that Democratic midterm gains could lead to tighter regulation of AI infrastructure and data-centre development.
Initial jobless claims data showing 189,000 filings, below the 197,000 forecast and near levels last seen in 1969, added pressure by reducing expectations for looser monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, compounding pressure on growth and risk assets.
Nasdaq Wipes Out Historic Post-Midterm Gains in Minutes
The speed of the reversal is the critical detail, and on November 4, Wall Street had posted its best post-midterm session since 1982, with the Dow surging roughly 1,569 points.
Within six minutes of the opening bell on November 5, the Nasdaq Composite erased all of those gains. The pattern mirrors the April 2025 tariff shock, when a policy announcement triggered a comparable one-session unwinding of bullish positioning.
U.S. Jobs Report Could Determine Whether Global Selloff Deepens
The October nonfarm payrolls report is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on November 6. A strong number could reinforce the higher-for-longer interest rate narrative that pressured risk assets on November 5, while a miss could reopen the door to rate-cut expectations and provide a floor for beaten-down tech and crypto names.
