KOSPI Crashes 8% as AI Chip Selloff Slams Asian Markets

The KOSPI plunged 8.10% to 6,208.34 on Tuesday morning, deepening a global semiconductor rout.

SK Hynix sank 11.01%, and Samsung Electronics dropped 9.45%, a day before the memory giant reports quarterly earnings.

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Chip Selloff Spreads From Wall Street to Seoul

The Korea Exchange triggered a sell-side sidecar after the open, its 22nd this year. A similar mechanism tripped on the Kosdaq shortly afterward. The index was down 6.6% at press time.

Japan followed Seoul lower. Kioxia cratered 16.5%, Tokyo Electron dropped over 9%, and Advantest slid 8%.

SoftBank Group, an AI proxy through its Arm stake, fell nearly 5%. Overall, the Nikkei 225 lost 3.90%, while the Topix shed 2.49%.

The rout extends Monday's weakness in US chip stocks, where the VanEck Semiconductor ETF lost over 2%, according to CNBC. AMD and Teradyne led declines, falling 5% and 4% respectively.

Investors remain skeptical about tech giants' heavy AI spending. The selloff comes days after SK Hynix and Samsung announced $950 billion AI deals.

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