Global tech rout deepens: SpaceX loses 600bn as Nasdaq plunges below IPO price

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10 days · 11 summary articles
Global stock markets plunged on Tuesday as a two-day rout in technology shares deepened, wiping out more than $600 billion in value from SpaceX alone and dragging the Nasdaq Composite below its IPO reference price. The sell-off, which began in Asia and swept through Europe before hitting Wall Street, erased gains from the artificial-intelligence boom and triggered broad risk aversion across equities, bonds, and cryptocurrencies.
SpaceX’s shares fell more than 4% in pre-market trading after Monday’s 16.43% plunge, pushing its market capitalisation to roughly $2 trillion and briefly below its April 2025 IPO reference price . The company’s surprise announcement of new debt financing—despite holding over $100 billion in cash—sparked investor concern about capital discipline and future profitability, analysts said. “This is more than a reality check,” said Stephan Kemper, chief investment strategist at BNP Paribas Wealth Management. “It reflects growing doubts about the sustainability of mega-cap tech valuations built on AI promises.”
The Nasdaq Composite, heavily weighted toward AI-linked stocks, dropped for a second consecutive session, with chipmakers such as Nvidia under pressure amid rising expectations that the US Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer . European bourses followed suit: the Bel20 in Brussels managed only a modest decline, but broader indices in Paris, Frankfurt, and Milan recorded losses of 3–5% as tech and industrial shares led declines .
Bitcoin extended its slide, falling below $60,000 for the first time since March, while US Treasury yields rose and gold futures gained as investors sought traditional havens . The shift followed Monday’s global rout, which saw the South Korean Kospi drop 10% and the Russian market suffer its steepest fall in nearly four years as geopolitical and macroeconomic jitters compounded local pressures .
Analysts cited three converging factors: mounting evidence that AI-driven revenue growth has yet to match lofty expectations, growing conviction that the Fed will delay rate cuts into 2027, and a wave of profit-taking after 17 months of uninterrupted gains in global equities . “The AI narrative is being stress-tested,” said a strategist at BNP Paribas in London. “Until we see clear evidence of monetisation, multiples will remain under pressure.”
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