Asian stocks fall after US technology selloff

Asian stocks fell on Friday after a steep selloff in U.S. technology shares, with investors weighing concerns about the cost and pace of artificial-intelligence infrastructure spending. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 6.2% in morning trading at 57,271.19, South Korea’s Kospi fell 7.1% to 5,000.25 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.7% to 9,003.40. The Kospi had dropped more than 8% after opening, prompting a trading halt, according to reports from the exchange’s session. Reuters reported that a circuit breaker halted trading for 20 minutes. The market-level figures later reported for Friday morning showed the index down 7.1%. The declines followed Thursday’s losses on Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell 4.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,833.06 points, or 3.4%, to 51,523.06, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% to 24,315. The Nasdaq was 11.9% below its record high from the previous month, a decline commonly described as a market correction. Nvidia fell 9.3% on Thursday and was the heaviest drag on the S&P 500. The company’s shares were down 2.6% for the year to date, after annual gains of about 39%, 171% and 239% in the previous three years. Other companies tied to AI...