Japan's Nikkei falls more than 6% as Asian benchmarks tumble after Wall Street drop

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s stock benchmark tumbled more than 6% after trading opened Friday, and other Asian stocks also declined following a widespread sell-off of issues related to artificial intelligence on Wall Street.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 6.2% in morning trading to 57,271.19. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.7% to 9,003.40. South Korea's Kospi dropped 7.1% to 5,000.25.

Stock markets around the world have been feeling pressure from continued drops for companies that have benefited from the boom in the artificial-intelligence technology industry. Such stocks have been swinging for months on worries that the construction of AI data centers may slow because of how expensive it’s become to borrow money. Critics also say AI stock prices had shot too high and were in a bubble.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 4.4% Thursday for its worst day since U.S. President Donald Trump shook markets worldwide in April 2025 with his “Liberation Day” tariffs. The wipeout more than erased the U.S. stock market’s gain from the day before, which was its best in three months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 1,833 points, or 3.4%, while the Nasdaq composite tumbled 5.5%. The Nasdaq, which is full of AI-related and other tech stocks, sank 11.9% below its all-time high set last month. Stock geeks call a loss of more than 10% a “correction.”

Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections added another challenge. The nationwide victories for Democrats raised the possibility that governments could force pauses in construction of more data centers. Voters across political parties say they’re wary about AI and don’t like the increases to power bills caused by data centers.

Any slowdown in construction of AI data centers would mean fewer purchases of AI chips, not to mention electricity and other products and services that are getting vacuumed up in the AI frenzy, which is driving much of the U.S. economy’s growth.

Nvidia, the chip company that quickly became the face of the AI boom, fell 9.3% and was by far the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. It’s now down 2.6% for the year so far following annual gains of roughly 39%, 171% and 239% in the last three years.

Advanced Micro Devices tumbled 17.3%. CoreWeave, a company that rents access to AI chips to customers over the cloud, fell 9.8%. GE Vernova, which has been helping to power data centers, sank 7.5%.

Compounding the pain for investors, AI chip stocks are some of Wall Street’s most influential because they’ve become some of the largest. A 1% move for Nvidia, for example, has more effect on the S&P 500 than a 1% move for nearly any other U.S. stock.

Stock prices tend to follow where corporate profits and interest rates go over the long term, depending on them much more than on who controls what in Washington.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 334.89 points to 7,353.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,833.06 to 51,523.06, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1,421.52 to 24,315.00.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 0.60% to $91.06 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 3.88% to $98.29 a barrel. Uncertainty still reigns about what will happen in the war with Iran and when the global energy industry can return to normal.

In the bond market, Treasury yields continued to tumble Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.84% from 4.90% late Wednesday. It had been at 4.95% on election night and above 5.30% last month. That could be a signal that investors are herding into U.S. Treasury bonds in search of something that’s safer to own as stock prices tumble.

The drop in yields came despite some encouraging reports on the U.S. economy. Fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 157.83 Japanese yen from 157.65 yen. The euro cost $1.1216, down from $1.1218.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

The screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

TV cameraman films near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

TV cameraman films near the screens showing the stock prices at the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) is seen at the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a proclamation that he says will preserve the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as a national monument, his first official action after his party was swept aside in midterm elections on Tuesday.

But the action does not prevent future presidents from restyling the iconic office that Trump has filled to the brim with gold flourishes, nor does it prevent a successor from rolling back the proclamation itself. Trump himself has reversed national monument designations made by his predecessors.

Trump, however, described the Oval Office order in expansive terms. “It will not be allowed to be touched by anybody, destroyed, ripped down by stupid people, in order to build something in a slightly different shape,” Trump said. “We like the Oval Office, and it’s a symbol, like the White House itself.”

It was the third day this week that the president, a real estate mogul, delivered remarks fixated on his pet projects in Washington. On Wednesday, a day after Republicans suffered defeats in key races across the country, Trump gathered reporters to sign the final beam being raised during construction of his opulent ballroom project. On Monday, he went to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to talk about his renovation of the landmark.

The proclamation, released after Trump's remarks, says that nothing in it will “restrict the President’s authority to redecorate the monument, select furnishings, or make ordinary operational and security modifications that do not substantially impair the monument’s historic structure or architectural character.”

It orders the Interior secretary to manage the Oval Office and requires “documentation, review, and consideration of alternatives before any action that would substantially alter or demolish the monument.” Trump separately said any major changes would need review from Congress, though such a requirement is not in the document's text.

“If they want to say, ‘Let’s not have oval anymore, let’s make it square,’ what happens is they have to go back to Congress and hopefully the Congress, the people in Congress, will be smart enough not to let that happen,” said Trump — who notably demolished the East Wing of the White House to make room for his ballroom.

A red baseball cap with “VETO” on the front was sitting on the Resolute Desk as Trump signed the document, a not-so-subtle nod to the shifting of powers in Congress.

His effort to preserve changes at the White House comes as Democrats gear up for new scrutiny of Trump. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a flurry of letters Thursday to known donors to Trump’s ballroom, demanding that they provide information or face “alternative measures to obtain compliance.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has overseen numerous design changes to various rooms, including the Oval Office, where he has filled the wall space with portraits, a copy of the Declaration of Independence and numerous golden accents.

As he talked about his interior decorating decisions, Trump highlighted new chandeliers that he says were installed in the Cabinet Room to address “very bad lighting.” His other additions to the Oval Office include numerous gold wall appliqués and gold-framed portraits.

Trump did not elaborate on precisely what he was hoping to prevent but suggested that the Oval Office might face some threat in the future. Trump himself has faced several lawsuits alleging that his Washington beautification projects were done without the necessary approval.

“If anybody ever decides to come and start knocking down walls, you call me wherever I may be," Trump said, “and I’ll come back here and I’ll make sure it never happens.”

The newly refurbished Cabinet Room at the White House is seen after President Donald Trump spoke n the Oval Office, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The newly refurbished Cabinet Room at the White House is seen after President Donald Trump spoke n the Oval Office, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A hat with the word 'VETO' sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A hat with the word 'VETO' sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)