WORLD IN BRIEF: Tech stocks lose $2.5tn, Paraguay president resigns, DR Congo residents sue Chinese mine over pollution and other stories

Major technology stocks experienced heavy losses following the US midterm elections, driven by concerns that a Democrat-controlled Congress could disrupt AI infrastructure development. The Nasdaq-100 Index saw its worst single-day performance since March 2020 on Thursday, plunging 6.4 per cent and erasing US$2.3 trillion in market capitalization, according to SCMP Business. BusinessDay Nigeria reported that major tech stocks lost $2.5 trillion as AI concerns deepened.

The market downturn spread to Asian markets on Friday. SCMP Business reported that the Hang Seng Index fell 1.5 per cent and the Hang Seng Tech Index slumped 2.1 per cent. In mainland China, the CSI 300 Index sank 1.8 per cent, while the Star 50 gauge fell 3.5 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi index dropped more than 7 per cent. These declines followed fears that new political leadership, such as Texas Democratic Governor Gina Hinojosa's call for a moratorium on data center buildouts, could impact the capacity for electricity and land needed for AI expansion.

Brief written by urgent.news from BusinessDay Nigeria, SCMP Business — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.