New York (AFP) – US chip-maker Nvidia led a rout in tech stocks Monday after the emergence of a low-cost Chinese generative AI model that could threaten American dominance in the fast-growing industry. The chatbot developed by DeepSeek, a startup based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, has apparently shown the ability to match the capacity of US AI pace-setters for a fraction of the investments made by American companies. Shares in Nvidia, whose semiconductors power the AI industry, fell nearly 17 percent on Wall Street, erasing nearly $600 billion of its market value. The tech-rich Nasdaq index finished down more than three percent.
DeepSeek, whose chatbot became the top-rated free application on Apple’s US App Store, said it spent only $5.6 million developing its model — peanuts when compared with the billions US tech giants have poured into AI. US “tech dominance is being challenged by China,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB. “The focus is now on whether China can do it better, quicker and more cost effectively than the US, and if they could win the AI race,” she said.
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, described the market’s response Monday as “shoot first, ask questions later,” noting that some are skeptical of the Chinese company’s assertions. “Everyone is trying to figure out ‘Can it be believed?’ and ‘What does it mean,’” Hogan said. As DeepSeek rattled markets, the startup on Monday said it was limiting the registration of new users due to “large-scale malicious” cyberattacks on its services.
AI players Meta and Microsoft are among the tech giants scheduled to report earnings this week, offering an opportunity for comment on the emergence of the Chinese company. Shares in another US chip-maker, Broadcom, fell 17.4 percent while Dutch firm ASML, which makes the machines used to build semiconductors, saw its stock tumble 6.7 percent. Constellation Energy, which is planning to build significant energy capacity for AI, sank more than 20 percent. Wall Street’s broad-based S&P 500 index shed 1.5 percent while the Dow advanced 0.7 percent. In Europe, the Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges closed in the red while London finished flat. Asian stock markets mostly slid.
Just last week following his inauguration, Trump announced a $500 billion venture to build infrastructure for AI in the United States led by Japanese giant SoftBank and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. SoftBank tumbled more than eight percent in Tokyo on Monday while Japanese semiconductor firm Advantest was also down more than eight percent and Tokyo Electron off almost five percent.
– Interest rates in focus –
Besides tech earnings, this week also sees interest-rate decisions from the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, ahead of American inflation data. Equities enjoyed a healthy run-up last week on the hope that Trump’s second administration would take a less hardball approach to global trade. However, his threat Sunday that he would hit Colombian goods with a 25 percent tariff — rising to 50 percent next week — and revoke the visas of government officials set off alarm bells. The move came after President Gustavo Petro blocked deportation flights from the United States.
In response to Trump’s decision, Petro initially announced retaliatory levies of 25 percent on imports from the United States. But Bogotá later backed down and agreed to accept the deported citizens, with Foreign Minister Gilberto Murillo saying they had “overcome the impasse.”
– Key figures around 2120 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 44,713.58 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 1.5 percent at 6,012.28 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 3.1 percent at 19,341.83 (close)
London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,503.71 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 7,906.58 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 21,282.18 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 39,565.80 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 20,197.77 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,250.60 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0492 from $1.0497 on Friday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2496 from $1.2484
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 154.61 yen from 156.00 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.94 pence from 84.08 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.8 percent at $77.08 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.0 percent at $73.17 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
