The AI trade’s worst day in a year became a buying opportunity by Monday

On Friday, the Nasdaq had its worst session in a year. By Monday it all seemed like a bad dream.

The chipmakers that had their worst session since 2020 on Friday (Micron, Broadcom) were Monday’s best performers, up 6.5% by midday. Wall Street appears to consider Friday as a welcome easing off of a record-setting rally, as opposed to a genuine repricing of the AI trade that other analysts warned of.

New York’s bad dream was, overnight, Asia’s waking one. South Korea’s Kospi—the best-performing major index in the world this year—plunged as much as 8.8% at the open Monday, triggering a 20-minute trading halt, its third of 2026, and closed down 8.29%. 

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix—the two memory-chip makers that together make up roughly half of the index—fell about 10% and 8%, respectively; the won opened at a 17-year low against the dollar. Japan’s Nikkei lost 3.9%, China’s CSI 300 2.1%.

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang called Friday’s selloff a buying opportunity, telling investors demand for AI chips keeps outrunning supply. It echoe...