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Global Stocks Fall as US Tech Sell-Off Spreads to Asia and Europe

Elena MarquezPublished 7m ago2 min readBased on 8 sources
Global Stocks Fall as US Tech Sell-Off Spreads to Asia and Europe
Image by 3844328 from Pixabay

Stock markets in Asia and Europe fell sharply on Nov 6, 2026, as a sell-off in American technology shares spread overseas. The Guardian reported that the falls followed the Democrats' midterm election triumph and fears of an slowdown in artificial intelligence (AI) spending.

The sell-off began in the United States. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% on Nov 5, its worst day in 19 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,833.06 points, or 3.44%, and the S&P 500 lost 4.36%. Nvidia shares fell more than 9%, making it the leading faller on the Dow. Micron and AMD each lost 17% of their value, while SanDisk shares fell 22% and Western Digital shares fell 17%.

Investors feared that the Democrats' "blue wave" midterm win would lead to tighter rules on AI and data centers, according to The Guardian. The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street's main gauge of expected market swings, jumped more than 60% on Nov 5 to its highest level since the early weeks of the Iran war.

Asian markets took heavy losses. Japan's Nikkei 225 index sank almost 6%, its worst drop since April 7, 2025. South Korea's KOSPI fell 6.7%, and Taiwan's TAIEX dropped 4.5%.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 was down 1.9% at 10,575 points in mid-morning trading, and Bloomberg reported that it was on track for its biggest fall since March. By mid-afternoon the London index had recovered to a fall of 1.5%, helped by a rise when Wall Street reopened. Germany's Dax fell 2.3%, France's Cac 40 dropped 1.3%, and Spain's Ibex lost 1.1%.

Wall Street also recovered some ground early on Nov 6. Tech stocks rallied, lifting the S&P 500 by about 1% and the Nasdaq by 1.8%. The tech-focused Nasdaq 100 had plunged 6.4% in earlier trading, according to The Independent, which put the losses in US equity markets at roughly $3 trillion. The Guardian's live coverage put the figure at more than $3.2 trillion for Nov 5 alone.

The moves came against a longer backdrop. The Nasdaq Composite was still up 6.5% since the start of January 2026, although it was more than 10% below its peak. The FTSE 100 had gained more than 7% over the same year.

Separately, the US economy added 165,000 jobs in October 2026, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%.

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