South Korea’s Kospi index sinks more than 7% on semiconductor share sell-off over AI boom worries

HONG KONG — South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index dropped more than 7% Tuesday on a sell-off of chip shares, and Asian shares mostly declined after U.S. stocks ended mixed.

U.S. futures were also mixed, and oil prices fell as escalating tensions in the Middle East continued.

The Kospi index was down 7.4% to 5,914.35, its lowest level since late July. It reached an all-time high in June after crossing 9,000, supercharged by the global artificial intelligence boom.

Samsung Electronics fell 7.7%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix plunged 8.8%.

Investors’ unease over the AI boom has clouded prospects. Both companies’ stocks fell following reports that the latest advances made by China’s memory chipmaker CXMT could increasingly challenge Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology, the world’s biggest memory chipmakers.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 2.5% to 67,292.39. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron fell 6.6%. SoftBank Group, an OpenAI investor, lost 8%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1% to 24,033.51. The Shanghai Composite index was 1.1% lower at 3,754.82.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.2% to 8,767.40.

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.9%, with its leading chipmaker TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., down 1.6%.

On Monday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 edged down 0.1%.

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world