{"text":[[{"start":11.62,"text":"Investors sold off Asian semiconductor and data centre stocks on Thursday as they bet that Democratic control of the US Congress would slow the AI infrastructure build-out that has supercharged equity markets in the region."}],[{"start":24.86,"text":"Trading in Tokyo and Seoul turned against chipmakers and other stocks that had previously been buoyed by the prospect of a prolonged AI spending boom on fears that Democrat-led states could now tighten regulation on data centre construction."}],[{"start":38.84,"text":"Japan’s technology-heavy Nikkei 225 Average fell 1.5 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi index, around half of which is Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, declined 4.8 per cent. Taiwan’s benchmark index fell 2.6 per cent."}],[{"start":55.22,"text":"In Asia “there has been a sweeping correction triggered by what is going on in the US”, said Nicholas Yeo, head of Chinese equities at Aberdeen. “Koreans and the Taiwanese are much more exposed to the US capex which is the uncertainty right now.”"}],[{"start":68.98,"text":"Kioxia, the bellwether memory-chip maker that ranked as Japan’s most valuable company in June, continued a slide that has slashed more than 70 per cent of the company’s market capitalisation since that peak."}],[{"start":81.22,"text":"“For Kioxia the issue is more about Nand [flash memory chip]. I think the technology gap versus the Chinese players is much less significant in Nand,” said Dale Nicholls, a portfolio manager at Fidelity."}],[{"start":93.02,"text":"Chinese markets rose as state-backed support helped lift sentiment. The CSI 300 and the Hang Seng index rose 0.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively. Aberdeen’s Yeo said Chinese tech stocks were less dependent on US capex than their Korean and Taiwanese counterparts."}],[{"start":110.22,"text":"Overnight, the S&P 500 closed 1.6 per cent higher, its biggest one-day jump since early August, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 added 0.9 per cent in a day of big swings as traders tried to pick the winners and losers from an anticipated Democratic backlash against the AI industry."}],[{"start":128.58,"text":"With oil prices tumbling to around $94 a barrel, traders in Tokyo said some were betting that the Democratic sweep could rein in US President Donald Trump, lower petrol prices and potentially lead to some relief on healthcare costs and other factors that have hurt consumption."}],[{"start":146.04,"text":"Lower oil prices helped boost the currencies of Asian countries, such as Japan, that are net energy importers. The yen strengthened 0.3 per cent to ¥157.91 a dollar."}],[{"start":157.92,"text":"Japan’s broader Topix index, which gives a heavier weighting to automakers, pharmaceuticals and consumer stocks than the Nikkei, jumped more than 1.5 per cent."}],[{"start":168.02,"text":"Strategists noted that US equities had historically performed well after midterm elections since 1978, with the rallies usually mirrored in Japan."}],[{"start":177.54,"text":"Shares in Toyota and Honda both rose more than 5 per cent on hopes that Trump’s tariffs on Canada, which raise the cost of Japanese automotive construction in North America, might come down."}],[{"start":188.28,"text":"Shares in Sony and Nintendo both surged on a bet that more restrained AI investment could reduce the price of memory chips used in data centres and AI-related technology and, as a consequence, lower the production costs of their games consoles."}],[{"start":202.94,"text":"Uncertainty around the AI-related investment boom remained the dominant theme, said investors. “The midterm election results have fuelled worries that the construction of data centres can be delayed in some US states like Texas,” said Chaiwon Lee, chair of Seoul-based Life Asset Management. “The delayed construction can in turn reduce demand for memory chips.”"}],[{"start":223.22,"text":"Bruce Kirk, Japan equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, said that over the past three years overall market gains in Japan had been strongly led by electric appliances and precision engineering. He noted that an extended period of such narrow sector contribution was unusual."}],[{"start":239.46,"text":"“We would expect some level of broadening going into 2027, but we are far more likely to see shifts into AI-adjacent thematics than a wholesale shift into consumer,” said Kirk."}],[{"start":250.66,"text":"He added that global tech investors who had been driving flows this year were unlikely to switch into owning Japanese domestic consumer names, but they might shift into areas physical AI or cyber security."}],[{"start":264.42,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793861027_4547.mp3"}