Korean Stocks Hit Over Six-Month Low as AI Concerns Grow
By Amanda Lee
South Korea's benchmark stock index, a barometer of the artificial-intelligence trade, headed for its worse close since April as the AI selloff deepened in Asia.
The losses followed the sharp fall in U.S. technology stocks overnight as investors grew more concerned about the massive, debt-fueled spending needed for AI buildouts. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% and the PHLX Semiconductor Index tumbled 6.7%, both logging their largest drops since June.
The Kospi fell as much as 4.1% to 5305.98 on Friday before trimming losses to about 2% by noon. The index remains on track for a fourth consecutive week of declines.
Shares of SK Hynix slid as much as 4.2% in early Seoul trade in before recouping some ground, whipsawing between gains and losses. Fellow index heavyweight Samsung Electronics shed as much as 5.1%.
Cooling investor appetite for AI-linked listings has also stalled multibillion-dollar fundraisings. SK Hynix--the world's second-largest memory-chip maker--became the latest casualty Friday when it dropped plans for a U.S. listing of unit Solidigm.
Write to Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 22, 2026 23:58 ET (03:58 GMT)
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