Asian Tech Stocks Slide as AI Spending Concerns Ripple from U.S. Markets

Japanese technology shares fell on Thursday as investor concerns about AI infrastructure spending on Wall Street spread to Asian markets, weighing on AI‑related names. SoftBank Group Corp was among the largest decliners on the Nikkei 225, tumbling as much as 7.25% before trimming losses to trade about 3% lower, with the index down 1.23% and leading regional declines.

The move followed a 1.81% drop in the Nasdaq Composite overnight, driven by weakness in Oracle, Broadcom, Nvidia and other AI‑exposed companies. Oracle’s shares were pressured after the Financial Times reported that Blue Owl Capital’s financing for the company’s $10 billion Michigan data center had stalled; Oracle last week denied a separate report that it had postponed some projects for OpenAI until 2028.

SoftBank, which has experienced notable volatility in recent weeks amid investor unease over AI spending, earlier this year disclosed plans to invest $500 billion in U.S. AI infrastructure alongside partners including OpenAI and Oracle, and in September announced five new U.S. AI data center sites under Stargate, OpenAI’s infrastructure initiative. Other Japanese technology stocks also retreated, with semiconductor equipment supplier Advantest falling as much as 5% and peers Lasertec, Renesas Electronics and Tokyo Electron each sliding between 3% and 4%.

Jesper Koll, expert director at Tokyo‑based Monex Group, observed that many components for data centers, power systems and AI hardware are manufactured in Japan, making the country’s tech sector particularly sensitive to concerns about U.S. tech spending. Japan’s trade data released Wednesday showed electrical machinery exports rose 7.4% and semiconductor‑related shipments increased 13% year on year, reflecting the U.S.‑led surge in demand for specialized equipment. Losses were milder elsewhere in the region, with Samsung Electronics down 0.93%, SK Hynix gaining 0.73% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company marginally lower.