Nasdaq sinks 5.5% into a correction in Wall Street's worst day since April 2025, and Seoul halts trading as the rout reaches Asia

Thursday's selloff in US technology shares got worse into the close and then crossed the Pacific. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 5.5% at 24,315, which left it in correction territory, more than 10% below its record close, Investing.com reported. The S&P 500 lost more than 4% and the Dow about 3.4%. Reuters called it the steepest decline in US stocks since the tariff-driven selloff of April 2025 and said the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slumped 12.2%.

Investing.com tied the fall to an accelerating slide in AI shares, disappointing guidance from Arm and weak results from Qualcomm, and investor worry that a Democratic Congress will mean tighter AI regulation and limits on data center growth.

Asia opened sharply lower on Friday. South Korea's Kospi began the day down 8.55%, triggering a 20-minute trading halt, the tenth circuit breaker this year, according to Investing.com. Reuters said Japan's Nikkei slumped 7% right after the opening bell before dip buyers appeared, and that Nasdaq futures were up 1.4%.

The Block put bitcoin at $75,908 as of 11:20pm Eastern on Thursday, down 5.8% in 24 hours after a low of about $75,350, with ether at $2,234, down 8.2%. Investors are now waiting for Friday's US jobs report.