Black Swan’ Event Triggers Global Market Rout: AI Sell-Off and Bank of Japan Fears Spark Widespread Declines

1 min read
December 15, 2025

– A reported delay in Oracle’s data center project for OpenAI has acted as a catalyst, triggering a sharp sell-off in global technology and AI-related stocks, exemplifying a classic black swan event.
– Cryptocurrency markets witnessed massive liquidations, with over $270 million in contracts wiped out in 24 hours, as risk aversion spread from traditional equities to digital assets.
– The Bank of Japan (日本央行) is widely expected to hike interest rates by 25 basis points this week, intensifying market caution and contributing to the global downturn.
– Chinese equity markets, including A-shares (A股) and Hong Kong stocks (港股), opened significantly lower, reflecting the contagious nature of external shocks on domestic assets.
– This convergence of factors underscores the heightened sensitivity of global markets to shifts in tech narratives and monetary policy, necessitating strategic portfolio adjustments for institutional investors.

A wave of risk-off sentiment has engulfed global financial markets, driven by an unexpected black swan event originating in the artificial intelligence sector and amplified by looming monetary policy tightening from Japan. Overnight, what began as a targeted sell-off in U.S. AI stocks rapidly spiraled into a broad-based decline across Asian equities, cryptocurrencies, and futures markets. For professionals focused on Chinese equity markets, this sudden volatility serves as a critical stress test, highlighting the interconnectedness of global capital flows and the vulnerability of risk assets to unforeseen catalysts. This black swan event, centered on AI infrastructure concerns, has forcefully reminded investors that in today’s hyper-connected financial ecosystem, localized disruptions can have immediate and far-reaching consequences.

Decoding the Black Swan Event: AI Trading Woes Ignite Global Panic

The immediate trigger for the market turmoil appears to be a report concerning a delay in a critical AI infrastructure project. According to market analysts, news that Oracle (甲骨文) might postpone the delivery of a data center for OpenAI from 2027 to 2028 due to labor and material shortages acted as the proverbial spark. This black swan event disrupted the bullish narrative surrounding AI’s exponential growth, prompting a sharp reassessment of valuations across the technology spectrum.

The Oracle-OpenAI Delay: From Rumor to Market Catalyst

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Eliza Wong

Eliza Wong

Eliza Wong fervently explores China’s ancient intellectual legacy as a cornerstone of global civilization, and has a fascination with China as a foundational wellspring of ideas that has shaped global civilization and the diverse Chinese communities of the diaspora.