Global stocks tumble as AI panic grips markets after Democrats’ midterm success – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as Asia-Pacific markets slide after Wall Street rout

The Financial Times have calculated that US stocks shed $3.2tn on Thursday, in a day of “chaotic trading”.

Thet explain:

The market value drop on the S&P Composite 1500 index, a broad basket of America’s publicly traded companies, was the biggest since the turn of the millennium, according to FT calculations based on FactSet data

“(Clients) were long index, long stocks, and they all got carried out.

“All night, all day – we had client margin calls, client complaints, ... because it’s a very emotional thing, right? People are wedded to their positions and views on a stock or outcome and you’re telling them, look, you’ve just lost money.

The tumble in tech stocks that took hold in the immediate aftermath of the US midterm elections resumed as investors contemplated what a Democrat-controlled Congress may mean for tech regulation and the overall AI boom.

The regulatory and political risks arise at a time when the proverbial AI trade was already on shakier foundations. Earnings season has been an overall disappointment for the markets, with Magnificent Seven results so far undershooting growth expectations and flashing warning signs that the pace of AI spending is slowing down.

7am GMT: Lloyds house price index

9am GMT: UN’s FAO food price index

1.30pm GMT: US non-farm payrolls jobs report

3pm GMT: University of Michigan’s US consumer confidence report

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