Tech Selloff Drags Asian Markets Lower

Asian stocks fell sharply Thursday before European markets opened, with South Korea and Japan indices plunging as a tech selloff intensified after Wall Street dropped on stronger-than-expected US inflation data. US stock futures also declined. South Korea's Kospi lost 7.7% to 5,548.78, far below its June record above 9,000 points driven by AI enthusiasm. Samsung Electronics slid 9.5%, SK Hynix plunged 11.4%, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 4.8%, and SoftBank lost 9.4%. Taiwan's Taiex dropped 3%, while Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Australia saw smaller declines. The losses followed Wednesday's Wall Street retreat, with the Nasdaq down 1.9% as Nvidia, Broadcom, and AMD fell. US consumer prices rose 3.7% year-over-year in September, exceeding August's 3.4% and economist forecasts, fueling concerns about prolonged high interest rates.