Following a report suggesting that the Biden administration may be planning to further tighten restrictions on semiconductor equipment exports to China, there was a sell-off.
Concerns were raised when former US President Donald Trump said that Taiwan, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, should foot the bill for its own defense.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index in the US ended the day on Wednesday 2.7% lower, while semiconductor stocks fell throughout Europe and Asia as well.
Chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research Bob O’Donnell stated, “I think we will see the US increase some of the restrictions regardless of the outcome of the elections.”
“How far they will take it, though, is the big question.”
Global chip manufacturer TSMC dropped 2.4% in Asia on Thursday, while Tokyo Electron, a manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, saw a drop of about 8.8%.
That followed on Wednesday, when AMD fell more than 10% and Nvidia closed 6.6% lower in New York.
The European shares of ASML, a manufacturer of chip manufacturing equipment, fell by about 11%.
