Market Watch

DeepSeek Sparks AI Stock Selloff, Nvidia Posts Record Market-Cap Loss

Global investors dumped tech stocks on Monday as they worried that the emergence of a low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence model would threaten the dominance of AI leaders like Nvidia, evaporating $593 billion of the chipmaker’s market value, a record one-day loss for any company on Wall Street.
Last week, Chinese startup DeepSeek launched a free AI assistant that it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost of incumbent services. By Monday, the assistant had overtaken U.S. rival ChatGPT in downloads from Apple’s.

The price of Bitcoin dipped below $98,000 Monday after DeepSeek, threw a wrench into Wall Street’s favorite narrative. This led the tech-heavy Nasdaq to fall 3.1% on Monday. Nvidia was the Nasdaq’s biggest drag, with its shares tumbling just under 17% and marking a record one-day loss in market capitalization for a Wall Street stock, according to LSEG data.

Nvidia’s market-cap loss on Monday was more than double the previous one-day record, set by Nvidia last September. The Nasdaq’s next-biggest drag was chipmaker Broadcom Inc, which finished down 17.4%, followed by ChatGPT backer Microsoft which fell 2.1% and then Google parent Alphabet which ended down 4.2%. The Philadelphia semiconductor index tumbled 9.2%, for its biggest percentage drop since March 2020 and its biggest decliner was Marvell Technology, which tumbled 19.1%.
U.S. equity declines followed a selloff that started in Asia, with Japan’s SoftBank Group  finishing down 8.3%, and moved through Europe where ASML fell 7%.
“If it’s true that DeepSeek is the proverbial ‘better mousetrap,’ that could disrupt the entire AI narrative that has helped drive the markets over the last two years,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. “
It could mean less demand for chips, less need for a massive build-out of power production to fuel the models, and less need for large-scale data centers.” The hype around AI has powered a huge inflow of capital into equities in the last 18 months, inflating valuations and lifting stock markets to new highs.
Terron Gold

Recent Posts

Federal Reserve Moves to Tighten Stablecoin Oversight With New Customer Identification Requirements

The Federal Reserve has unveiled a new proposed rule that would require certain payment stablecoin issuers to…

7 days ago

HIVE Stock Surges 10% After Landing $220 Million Sovereign AI Infrastructure Deal in Canada

Shares of HIVE Digital Technologies jumped more than 10% after the company announced a major $220 million, three-year…

1 week ago

Illinois Becomes First State to Tax Bitcoin and Crypto Transactions as Critics Call It the Most Punitive Crypto Tax in America

Illinois has officially become the first U.S. state to impose a transaction-based tax on cryptocy activity…

1 week ago

FOMC Rate Decision Triggers $122 Million Crypto Liquidation Cascade as Bitcoin and Ethereum Slide

The cryptocy market was hit by a sharp wave of volatility after the Federal Open Market…

1 week ago

Algorand Targets Full Quantum Resistance by 2027 as Blockchain Industry Faces Growing Quantum Threat

Algorand is accelerating its push toward becoming one of the world's first fully quantum-resistant blockchains, announcing…

1 week ago

CLARITY Act Gains Momentum as Senate Prepares for Critical Post-Recess Vote

The long-awaited Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is moving closer to becoming law as momentum continues building…

1 week ago