Fearing an AI stock market crash? These 2 FTSE 100 cash cows are worth a closer look

A commentary piece by Ken Hall argues that investors worried about an AI-driven stock market crash should consider two FTSE 100 companies that generate strong, steady cash flows. The article frames these defensive names as an alternative to richly valued technology stocks whose earnings expectations are tied to continued AI enthusiasm. The transmission mechanism runs through risk appetite and valuation: if concerns about an AI-led correction intensify, capital may rotate from high-multiple growth equities into cash-generative, dividend-paying sectors, lifting relative demand for UK blue chips while pressuring the most crowded US technology names that dominate S&P 500 index weighting. The S&P 500 is exposed through its concentration in large-cap technology, while the FTSE 100, with its heavy weighting toward banks, energy, consumer staples and miners, offers less direct AI exposure and may behave differently in a tech-led drawdown. Traders should watch the next US consumer price index release and the Federal Reserve's rate signals, since shifts in real yields determine how attractive bond-like equity income is relative to government debt.

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