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Trading was temporarily halted as the Kospi dropped to its lowest level since April after shares in chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell sharply.
ADVEReadNOWISEMENT
ADVEReadNOWISEMENT
The Kospi was down 10.5% at 6,051.19 in overnight trading. Samsung’s shares tumbled 12%, while SK Hynix’s shares were down 12.7%.
A big factor driving the selling of AI-related shares, analysts said, is the expectation that competition from Chinese AI start-ups and chipmakers might undermine gains for global companies whose shares have skyrocketed due to the AI frenzy.
A 466% jump in the price of Chinese chipmaker CXMT on its trading debut Monday has underscored such concerns. CXMT raised at least $8.6 billion (around €7.6bn) in its initial public offering on Shanghai’s tech-oriented STAR exchange.
Most other Asian markets also fell, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 down 4% at 62,350.18. The Taiex in Taiwan skidded 3.9%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged 0.1% lower, to 25,178.21, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 1% to 3,820.52.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 bucked the regional trend, gaining 0.6% to 8,944.40.
Oil prices extended their declines as US and Iran refrained from attacks for a third straight day.
Officials in the Middle East said mediators had made progress in getting the two sides back to negotiations.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.8% to $85.16 a barrel. US benchmark crude oil lost 0.9% to $81.86 a barrel.
Stocks on Wall Street drifted to a mixed close Monday. The S&P 500 gained less than 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.2% for its fourth straight loss.
Additional sources • AP