China threatens US AI dominance
US stock index futures have tumbled overnight. Investors rushed to bail out of chipmakers and tech-related equities in reaction to China’s threat to US dominance over the development of generative AI. A relatively small Chinese company called DeepSeek has produced a powerful open-source artificial intelligence model at a fraction of the cost, yet with capabilities equal or better than, many US versions such as ChatGPT. The DeepSeek version is already the top-rated free application on Apple's US App. The threat has led to a sudden, and painful, reconsideration of tech stock valuations along with their plans for future capital expenditures. The tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 was down close to 4% in early trade, with thumping losses for chipmakers. NVIDIA, Super Micro Computer and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company were all around 10% lower in morning trade. ‘Magnificent Seven’ constituents Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Tesla were all 5-6% weaker. The final ‘Mag 7’ member, Apple, was little-changed. But it has fallen 15% from its all-time high from Christmas, and testing support around $220. Given this year’s sell-off, investors may decide to sit on their hands for now, at least until they can digest Apple’s earnings which are released after Thursday’s close. On Wednesday there are fourth quarter updates from Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Tesla. It’s worth considering that the ‘Mag 7’ members account for 34% of the total market capitalisation of the S&P 500, so there’s a lot riding on this quarter given current high valuations and the uncertainty that comes with a Trump presidency. Mr Trump has yet to impose tariffs despite threats to Canada, Mexico and China. He successfully threatened Colombia to take two plane-loads of deportees or face tariffs of 25%, rising to 50% next week. The Federal Reserve is expected to keep rates unchanged after its meeting on Wednesday. In the meantime, bond prices are picking up again. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell 11 basis points to 4.50% this morning-its lowest level in over a month. This suggests that investors are putting the proceeds of dumped stocks straight into the bond market for now. It could also imply that equities could have more downside, given opportunists don’t appear to be in any rush to buy at cheaper levels.
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