Affected by the weak US manufacturing data, the three major US stock indexes closed yesterday with the largest decline in a month. The downtrend on Wall Street has also spread to Asian markets, with the South Korean and Japanese markets opening lower today. The semiconductor industry is once again the 'hardest hit area' today, as investors are watching the impact of Nvidia's sharp decline on its Asian partners.
On September 4th, according to Cailian Press (Editor: Malan), there were signs of significant volatility in the Japanese and South Korean stock markets today, following the decline on Wall Street on Tuesday.
As of the time of writing, the Japanese market index, the Nikkei 225, has fallen by over 3.27%; the decline in the Nikkei 225 has already exceeded 4%.
At the same time, the South Korean stock market is also experiencing a general decline. The Kospi index opened today with a decline of 2.29%, currently expanding to 2.7%; the smaller Kosdaq index is down nearly 3%.
Asian markets opened generally weak today, with the Australian S&P/ASX 200 index falling by 0.91%; the TPE x50 index in Taiwan, China fell more than 1%. The market is watching whether there will be more declines today and whether a 'black Monday' from a month ago will repeat.
Concerns about a US recession
This time, the unusual moves in the Japanese and South Korean stock markets are related to the weak manufacturing data released in the United States yesterday. In August, the US ISM manufacturing index remained below the boom-bust line for the fifth month, intensifying market concerns about a US economic recession.
The US stock market's closing yesterday already reflected this panic sentiment, with all three major indexes collectively closing lower and setting the largest single-day decline since August 6th. The decline in the Nasdaq was particularly deep, reaching 3.26%.
In addition to the negative news about the US manufacturing sector, the stock price of the 'number one AI chip stock' Nvidia plummeted over 9% yesterday, directly dragging down the performance of the entire chip industry. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell by 7.5%, marking the largest single-day drop since March 2020.
On the news front, according to media reports, Nvidia received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice yesterday, involving an antitrust investigation in the field of artificial intelligence computing. This move signifies a step closer for the US government to formally sue Nvidia.
Investors are now focusing on the spill-over effects Nvidia's sell-off in Asia may bring, especially on the performances of Nvidia's suppliers - Taiwan Semiconductor, SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics.
As of now, Taiwan Semiconductor's stock price has slightly increased, remaining stable; however, SK Hynix's stock price has dropped by over 7%, and Samsung Electronics' stock price has also fallen by nearly 3%.