Kospi Drops 7.89 Percent As Samsung And SK hynix Lead Chip Sell-Off
The Korea Herald reported that the Kospi fell 7.89 percent on Thursday as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix led a semiconductor sell-off tied to renewed AI-capacity and chip-competition concerns. The report cited a Korea Exchange sell-side sidecar, heavy foreign and institutional selling and 48.86 trillion won in trading value, but it did not report confirmed order cuts, revised chipmaker forecasts or measured AI-capacity utilisation.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi plunged 655.32 points, or 7.89 percent, to close at 7,648.09 on Thursday as semiconductor shares led a broad sell-off.
The index fell as low as 7,616.33, while the Korean won weakened against the U.S. dollar.
Korea Exchange activated a sell-side sidecar for the Kospi at around 9:07 a.m., suspending program trading for five minutes.
The safeguard is triggered when the KOSPI 200 Futures index falls at least 5 percent for one minute.
Investor concern focused on the amount of artificial-intelligence computing capacity being built and the competition facing Korean chipmakers.
Media reports said Meta Platforms was considering selling access to its AI computing infrastructure, raising questions about whether the company had built more capacity than it currently needs.
Separate reports said Apple was in talks to source chips from two Chinese semiconductor companies.
Samsung Electronics fell 9.06 percent to 286,000 won, while SK hynix tumbled 14.57 percent to 2.19 million won.
AI investment firm SK Square sank 13.2 percent to 1.52 million won, and chip-components maker Samsung Electro-Mechanics retreated 12.65 percent to 1.93 million won.
“Semiconductor stocks came under pressure after reports that Meta could enter the cloud infrastructure business,” said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.
“Reports that Apple is exploring chip sourcing from Chinese semiconductor companies also raised concerns that increased supply could ease supply bottlenecks and weaken chip pricing.”
Power-equipment shares also declined as expectations for further AI-infrastructure investment weakened.
LS Electric lost 10.25 percent to 236,500 won, while HD Hyundai Electric fell 4.25 percent to 969,000 won.
U.S. stocks had retreated overnight, with the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 down 1.5 percent and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 6.3 percent.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation expectations and inflation risks had eased in recent weeks, bolstering hopes for a delay in an interest-rate hike.
Trading volume reached 499.85 million shares worth 48.86 trillion won ($31.44 billion), with decliners outnumbering advancers 614 to 279.
Foreign investors sold a net 4.37 trillion won, institutions sold 2.07 trillion won and individuals bought a net 6.26 trillion won.
The won was quoted at 1,555.8 won per U.S. dollar as of 3:30 p.m., down 0.9 won from the previous session.
