AI chip stocks drag Wall Street toward worst day since Trump's tariff announcements in 2025

NEW YORK — Another wipeout for stocks tied to the buildout of AI data centers is overwhelming Wall Street on Thursday and more than erasing all its gains from the day before, which was its best in three months. The S&P 500 fell 3.2 percent after opening with a loss that accelerated through the morning. It’s on track for its worst drop since President Donald Trump shook markets worldwide in April 2025 after announcing his “Liberation Day” tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,146 points, or 2.1 percent, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 5 percent lower. Stock markets worldwide felt pressure from continued drops for companies that benefited from the boom for the artificial-intelligence technology industry, and South Korea’s Kospi index tumbled 5.3 percent. Such stocks have been swinging for months on worries that the construction of further AI data centers may slow because of how expensive it’s become to borrow money . Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections added another challenge. The nationwide victories by Democrats raised the possibility th