Japan suffered one of the biggest blows, with the Nikkei 225 dropping 6% and entering a bear market. The decline pushed Japan’s losses from its June record to 21%, wiping out roughly $450 billion in value.
South Korea followed with an even sharper move. The KOSPI collapsed 9% to 4,912, triggering a trading halt. The index is now around 47% below its June record, while SK Hynix fell 12% and Samsung Electronics dropped nearly 10%. South Korea has lost close to $203 billion.
China and Taiwan also joined the sell-off. Shenzhen has fallen 30% from its June high, erasing roughly $210 billion. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.1%, while the CSI 300 dropped 1.5%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 1%, while its AI index plunged 4%.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s TAIEX dropped 3.2% over 24 hours and is now 24% below its October record.
US Stocks Suffer Their Biggest Drop in Months
The weakness across Asia followed Wall Street’s worst single-session decline in more than a year. The S&P 500 fell 4.36% to 7,353.73, while the Nasdaq dropped 6.52% to 24,315, entering correction territory after falling more than 10% from its October peak. The Dow dropped 3.44%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 10%, while Nvidia, Broadcom, Oracle, CoreWeave and Nebius also suffered heavy losses as investors pulled back from technology stocks.
Bitcoin Falls Below $76,000 as Liquidations Surge
Bitcoin also followed the broader market decline, falling from above $80,800 to around $75,500 to 76,000. A major trigger was the latest US Initial Jobless Claims report.
Claims unexpectedly fell to 189,000, below the 197,000 forecast and near levels last seen in 1969. While the data signaled a strong US economy, it reduced expectations for easier monetary policy, pressuring Bitcoin and other risk assets.
The sudden price move triggered roughly $1 billion in crypto liquidations, with 88% involving leveraged long positions.
Crypto stocks also suffered, with Coinbase and MicroStrategy falling roughly 10% to 11%.
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