South Korea stocks suffered a heavy loss on Thursday. The benchmark KOSPI index dropped more than 6%. The sharp fall followed a global selloff in chip companies. Investors became worried after Meta Platforms announced plans to sell extra AI computing power. That move raised fresh concerns about possible excess investment in artificial intelligence. As a result, confidence weakened across major technology markets.
Samsung Electronics lost 7.71% during trading. SK Hynix performed even worse, falling 9.34%. However, not every company ended in the red. LG Energy Solution gained 0.43%. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor dropped 4.10%, while Kia slipped 0.99%. POSCO Holdings lost 1.90%. Samsung BioLogics managed to record a small 0.21% gain. The Korea Exchange briefly suspended programme selling after triggering a sidecar. That safety measure aims to reduce panic selling during sharp market swings.
Foreign investors also pulled out heavily from the market. They sold shares worth about 3.17 trillion won. At the same time, the South Korean won weakened against the U.S. dollar. It traded at 1,554.8 won per dollar, compared with the previous close of 1,551.2. In the bond market, the three-year treasury bond yield fell slightly. However, the benchmark 10-year bond yield moved higher. These movements reflected growing uncertainty among investors.
Despite the sharp drop, South Korea stocks have still gained 84.72% this year. Even so, the local currency has weakened 7.4% against the U.S. dollar in the same period. Investors will now watch global technology companies closely for fresh signals. They also expect more updates on AI spending.
For now, the latest selloff shows that confidence in the tech sector remains fragile, especially as questions grow over future demand for expensive AI infrastructure.
