Asian stocks fell on Wednesday along with the dollar, as Democrats gained in the US midterm elections, gains analysts said could lead to gridlock on Capitol Hill.

The Nikkei 225 fell 3.6% to 60,835.36, its lowest level since early May, with SoftBank Group down 8% and Kioxia Holdings down 10.8%. The Kospi fell 3.2% to 5,466.83, with SK Hynix down 3.2% and Samsung Electronics down 1.8%. The dollar fell to 158.06 yen from 158.75 on Tuesday, and the euro rose to US$1.1249. Investors see the Democratic wave bringing tighter regulatory scrutiny, particularly of artificial intelligence companies.