Stock markets plunge as Wall St tech rout rattles investors after midterm elections stoke fears of AI backlash

You're viewing the US edition You can switch to the UK, AU or IE homepage at any time using this menu. The market rout on Wall Street spread to global stock markets this morning, as the Democrats' midterms victory triggered a retreat from artificial intelligence stocks. There was a sea of red in Asia, with Japan's Nikkei 225 plunging 6 per cent overnight in its worst one-day drop since April 2025, while South Korea and Taiwan's indices plunged more than 8 per cent at the open. In London, the FTSE 100 dropped over 200 points, or 1.96 per cent, to 10,571, having risen as high as 10,948 on Thursday before the tech slump soured the mood. European markets were equally fragile, with Germany's Dax and France's Cac indices falling 2.2 per cent and 1.76 per cent, respectively.