Asian stocks fell heavily overnight after a rout in major US tech shares sent global markets plunging.

The FTSE 100 and other European indexes are on track to open lower after the sell-off triggered by falling profits at the world’s largest electric car maker Tesla.

US stock markets suffered their worst losses since 2022 amid a race out of shares in companies that have ridden the boom in AI excitement.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost more than 1,000 points at one stage as pessimism set in around the so-called “Magnificent Seven” group of megacap companies on Wall Street.

The world’s only $3 trillion companies all dragged down markets, with Nvidia dropping 6.8pc, Apple down 2.9pc and Microsoft down 3.6pc. Tesla fell 12pc.

 Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA, said this week’s profit reports from Tesla and Alphabet were not disasters, but they raised questions among investors about which other market heavyweights’ springtime results could fall short of expectations.

He said: “How many disappointments are we likely to see? Maybe let’s sell first and ask questions later.”

Read the latest updates below.