SEOUL, South Korea: The KOSPI plunged 10.84% on July 28 amid a global semiconductor sell-off and concerns over Chinese competition, battering Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
The index closed at 6,023.63, its lowest level since April. The Korea Exchange halted trading for 20 minutes after the decline exceeded 8%, according to The Korea Times.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (KRX: 005930) fell 13.39% to 222,000 won, or about $152. SK hynix Inc. (KRX: 000660) dropped 14.65% to 1.55 million won, or about $1,060.
Foreign investors sold a net 4.98 trillion won, equivalent to about $3.41 billion, during the session. Retail and institutional purchases failed to offset those sales, figures from Korea Exchange cited by The Korea Times showed.
Read: Asia Markets Fall as KOSPI Drops 5.81%, Nikkei 4.15%
Shinhan Securities analyst Kang Jin-hyuk attributed the risk aversion to renewed doubts about the AI investment cycle and China’s increasing competitiveness in memory chips.
ChangXin Memory Technologies intensified those concerns after its July 27 Shanghai debut. CXMT rose 465.82% from its offering price and reached a market value exceeding 3.2 trillion yuan, according to Xinhua.
The selling followed losses in US chip stocks on July 27. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 2.23%, while Nvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA).
Read: US Stock Futures Fall as AI Worries Hit Tech Rally
Lost about 4.9% after reports of talks concerning a possible $250 billion guarantee for an OpenAI data-centre lease. Japan’s Nikkei 225 subsequently fell about 4% to 62,364.92.
Kioxia Holdings Corporation (TSE: 285A) dropped more than 18%. Taiwan’s Taiex closed 4.65% lower at 41,603.36. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TWSE: 2330) lost 2.98%, according to Focus Taiwan.
