Asian equities slid after a strong Democratic showing in the US midterms raised investor fears of tighter AI regulation. Korea's KOSPI fell as much as 3.7%, erasing earlier gains; Samsung Electronics dropped over 4% and SK Hynix nearly 6%, the biggest drags on the index. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell about 4% intraday and Taiwan's TAIEX lost roughly 2.6%. Market participants said stronger Democratic performance could be negative for high-growth tech and AI firms and may hinder US data-center expansion

Asian equities slid after a strong Democratic showing in the US midterms raised investor fears of tighter AI regulation. Korea's KOSPI fell as much as 3.7%, erasing earlier gains; Samsung Electronics dropped over 4% and SK Hynix nearly 6%, the biggest drags on the index. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell about 4% intraday and Taiwan's TAIEX lost roughly 2.6%. Market participants said stronger Democratic performance could be negative for high-growth tech and AI firms and may hinder US data-center expansion, clouding demand prospects for Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese chipmakers and hardware suppliers integral to US AI infrastructure.