Tech sell-off rolls on as hot inflation data stokes rate worries

LONDON — Asian stocks plunged and the sell-off in tech stocks continued on Wall Street on Thursday as investors worried that forecast-topping U.S. inflation data would force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again. "A glance across major U.S. equities this morning shows that the tech sell-off is still in progress," said market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation. "Once again, chip stocks are in the forefront of the current round of derisking," he added. Shares in AI chip giant Nvidia shed 2.2 percent. Those in rivals AMD and Marvell were both down around four percent in late morning New York trading. Shares in AI data centre infrastructure company CoreWeave fell 3.6 percent after plunging 15.5 percent on Wednesday. The company is a big client of Nvidia chips and Nvidia is a major shareholder. The Nasdaq Composite, which has the heaviest exposure to tech stocks, shed 0.3 percent. The blue-chip Dow rose, however. "Rotation out of highly speculative AI infrastructure into established sectors helped the Dow gain over half a percentage point," said IG analyst Axel Rudolph. European s