KOSPI Falls Sharply as AI Investment Concerns Hit Chip Stocks

South Korean stocks fell sharply in early trading Tuesday as renewed concern over investment in the artificial intelligence value chain weighed on the market’s largest technology companies.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index was down 130.58 points, or 2.26 percent, at 5,637.43 as of 9:15 a.m. The decline accelerated rapidly after the index opened 0.6 percent lower, showing that selling pressure intensified during the first minutes of the session.

Technology shares led the retreat. Samsung Electronics, the country’s largest listed company and a major semiconductor producer, fell 1.38 percent. Rival chipmaker SK hynix dropped 4.07 percent, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics declined 2.22 percent. The losses in these heavily weighted companies amplified the move in the broader index.

The selloff came as investors sought to lock in gains following two consecutive sessions of recovery. Despite that brief rebound, the Korean market remains under pressure from questions about the scale, financing and near-term returns of global AI-related investment. The KOSPI had already plunged a combined 20.7 percent over seven trading sessions from Oct. 6 through last Thursday, underscoring the volatility surrounding technology and semiconductor valuations.

The weakness in Seoul contrasted with a mixed but generally firmer performance on Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.07 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.41 percent. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.11 percent to 26,430.89 as US technology shares rebounded from their steepest weekly decline since June.

That divergence suggested that local investors were responding not only to the latest US session but also to profit-taking and the Korean market’s concentrated exposure to major chipmakers. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix play an outsized role in the KOSPI, making the index particularly sensitive to changing expectations for semiconductor demand and AI infrastructure spending.

In the foreign-exchange market, the Korean won traded at 1,326.2 per US dollar at 9:15 a.m., strengthening by 6.9 won from the previous stock-market close. A firmer won did not prevent the equity decline, as pressure remained centered on technology shares.

The early move left investors watching whether bargain buying would emerge later in the session or whether concerns about AI-linked investment would extend the market’s recent volatility.