The artificial intelligence-driven equity rally is encountering its most significant hurdle yet, with South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index shedding more than 6% on Thursday.
The sharp decline was driven by heavy selling in the semiconductor sector, where market leaders SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics faced intense pressure from investors reassessing valuation multiples after months of relentless gains.
This move marks a stark reversal for the Kospi, which has been heavily weighted toward chipmakers benefiting from the AI infrastructure build-out.
The 6% drop represents the steepest single-day loss for the index since the start of the month, underscoring the fragility of sentiment in markets that have become increasingly dependent on a narrow set of technology beneficiaries.
Trading volumes surged as institutional investors rotated out of high-beta tech names, seeking safety in less correlated sectors.
The selloff in Seoul mirrors broader fatigue across global technology stocks, which are currently enduring their most severe downturn since March.