Sawt Falasteen - Tech stocks tumble on Nvidia rout, weak US data

The sight of investors running to the hills sparked memories of the brief but tumultuous sell-off at the start of August that was partly fuelled by a big miss on US jobs creation.

All three leading indexes in New York ended sharply lower Tuesday, with the Nasdaq the main casualty -- diving more than three percent -- as traders dumped big-name tech firms including Apple, Alphabet and Amazon.

But the biggest loser was AI chip leader Nvidia, shedding almost $280 billion of its value, on fears that the surge in firms linked to artificial intelligence may have run too far.

"When risk reduction takes hold, the most crowded trades tend to bear the brunt, and that's precisely what we saw in Nvidia, which tumbled 9.5 percent as global growth jitters intensified," noted independent analyst Stephen Innes.

Adding to the pain, it emerged after Wall Street closed that US authorities had issued Nvidia and other firms subpoenas as it probes claims they violated antitrust laws.

The selling filtered through to Asia, where tech and chip firms took the brunt of it. Europe, with a smaller number of major tech firms, saw smaller losses across its main indices.

In Japan, Advantest stock plunged 7.7 percent and Tokyo Electron more than eight percent, while Sony lost three percent.

TSMC shed more than five percent in Taipei, with SK hynix dumping eight percent in Seoul and Samsung more than three percent off.

Tokyo and Taipei each dived more than four percent overall, while Seoul was 3.2 percent lower.

Elsewhere, oil prices rebounded slightly after Tuesday's heavy selling sparked by demand worries linked to a weak Chinese economy and questions over the US outlook, while OPEC's consideration of output hikes added to the pain, analysts said.

Worries about the US economy burst back onto the scene after figures showed a marginal improvement in factory activity in August but it still remained in contraction for a fifth successive month.

The figures come days before a closely watched report on non-farm payrolls, which could have a big impact on Federal Reserve officials' decision-making going into next week's policy meeting.

The bank is expected to cut interest rates but the debate surrounds how big it will go, with most tipping a 25-basis-point reduction but a below-forecast reading seen boosting the chances of a 50-point move.

- Key figures around 1030 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,248.57 points

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,505.94

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.7 percent at 18,617.28

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.1 percent at 4,859.14

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 4.2 percent at 37,047.61 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 17,457.34 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 2,784.28 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.5 percent at 40,936.93 (close)

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 145.11 yen from 145.46 yen on Tuesday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1055 from $1.1047

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3118 from $1.3111

Euro/pound: UP at 84.29 pence from 84.17 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $74.02 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $71.09 per barrel

S.Barghouti--SF-PST