Asian Sell-Off Hits Tech Stocks as AI Valuations Face a New Challenge

Asian tech markets experienced a significant sell-off with the Korean KOSPI dropping 10% and Japanese Nikkei falling 3.5%, driven by profit-taking in an overheated AI market. Despite the volatility, semiconductors remain up 4.3% monthly, though NVIDIA is down 5.6%. The broader market shows mixed signals with the S&P 500 down 3.3% from its all-time high but up 9.1% year-to-date. Precious metals and cryptocurrencies also faced pressure amid rising US dollar strength.