Global chip stocks fall on ASML's disappointing outlook, possible U.S. export cap

Global chip stocks fell on Wednesday, after Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML posted disappointing sales forecasts, driving down global stocks in the sector.

Shares of ASML extended losses into the second day at the start of the European trading session, down 5%. The company's stock dropped 16% Tuesday, losing 49.2 billion euros ($53.6 billion) from its market capitalization in a single day, according to CNBC calculations.

ASML's decline also dragged other European semiconductor firms in the red on Wednesday. ASMI — a Netherlands-based firm that supplies wafer processing equipment for the semiconductor manufacturing industry — fell 2.3%. Compatriot chip equipment maker BE Semionductor dropped 1.9%.

Dutch-listed semiconductor firm STMicroelectronics lost 1.2%, while German chipmaker Infineon shed 1.1%. Soitec, French semiconductor materials manufacturer, fell 0.9%

In Asia, meanwhile, shares of Japanese semiconductor manufacturing firm Tokyo Electron logged the biggest loses, dropping nearly 10%. Renesas Electronics fell over 3%, and Advantest, a testing equipment supplier dipped 0.8%.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Hon Hai Precision Industry — known internationally as Foxconn — fell as much as 3.3% and 1.6, respectively.

South Korean chipmaking heavyweight SK Hynix, which manufactures high bandwidth memory chips for AI applications for Nvidia, traded 1.6% lower. While Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker for dynamic random-access memory chips, saw its shares drop 1.9%.

Losses in the region's semiconductor sector also dragged down major indexes. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost more than 2%, South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.6% and the Taiwan Weighted Index slid 0.7%.

In a report on Tuesday, ASML, which is based