According to Zhitong Finance APP, the weak performance of US manufacturing data has heightened concerns about the world's largest economy. As a result, the overnight US stock market came under pressure, especially with chip stocks suffering heavy losses. NVIDIA's stock price plummeted by 9.5%, leading to a decline in the entire chip sector. This downward trend also affected Asian stock markets, with widespread declines in early trading on Wednesday. In Japan, the benchmark index suffered its largest drop since August 5, and the strengthening yen added extra pressure on exporters. A similar situation was seen in the South Korean stock market, where the Kospi index plunged by 3% in early trading, marking the largest drop since the stock market crash on August 5.

It is reported that the final values of the S&P Global Manufacturing PMI and the ISM Manufacturing Index in the US for August were lower than expected, triggering concerns among investors about the weak economy. Larry Tentarelli, Chief Technical Strategist of Blue Chip Trends Reports, pointed out that the market is currently very sensitive to any economic data, making it a market highly dependent on data.

US stocks encountered setbacks on the first trading day of September, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average preliminarily falling by 1.5%, the S&P 500 index declining by 2.1%, the Nasdaq Composite Index dropping by 3.2%, and the VIX fear index rising by 32%. The PHLX Semiconductor Index also plummeted by 7.7%, with NVIDIA (NVDA.US) and Intel (INTC.US) leading the decline in chip stocks.

It is worth mentioning that NVIDIA's stock price dropped by an additional 2% in after-hours trading after the US Department of Justice issued subpoenas to NVIDIA and other companies to investigate whether their chip manufacturing business violated antitrust laws.

This downward trend also spread to the Japanese stock market, with the Nikkei 225 index plunging by 4% at one point during trading. Chip-related companies like Renesas Electronics, Advantest, and Socionext saw their stock prices drop by over 9%. Additionally, due to the sharp drop in oil prices, stocks in the energy sector also took a hit, causing the TOPIX index to slide by 3.4%.

Furthermore, the yen strengthened against the US dollar by about 1%, raising concerns about the profitability of Japanese exporters, particularly dragging down the stock prices of companies like Hitachi and Toyota. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated in a document on Tuesday that if the economy and prices perform as expected, they will continue to raise interest rates. The Bank of Japan also mentioned that despite the rate hike at the end of July, the actual interest rates are still significantly negative, and the economic environment remains loose.

Kuroda's remarks led to a strong yen, impacting the Japanese stock market, which opened with a more than 3% decline. Simultaneously, the South Korean stock market was also influenced by concerns about the overheated artificial intelligence market, leading to a sharp drop of 9.2% in the stock price of SK Hynix, NVIDIA's main supplier, and a 3.7% decline in Samsung Electronics' stock price.

European equity index futures also saw a significant decline, with the Euro Stoxx 50 index futures falling by 0.65%, UK FTSE 100 index futures falling by 0.49%, and Germany's DAX index futures dropping by 0.63%.

Overall, the volatility of global stock markets highlights investors' high sensitivity to economic indicators and policy adjustments, as well as concerns about the future of the technology industry. With inflation expectations remaining stable, the market's focus has shifted to the actual health of the economy, and any signs of weakness could prompt policymakers to hasten their easing pace. Although rate cuts are generally seen as bullish news for the stock market, the situation may not be so under the backdrop of the Fed's eagerness to avoid an economic recession.

Currently, market participants generally predict that the Fed may cut rates by more than two percentage points in the next 12 months, marking the largest cut since the 1980s, except during periods of economic recession. Analysts Ian Lyngen and Vail Hartman from BMO Capital Markets pointed out that the recent rise in unemployment has triggered market panic, and this sentiment will make traders feel uneasy until the non-farm employment data is released on Friday.