South Korea’s benchmark Kospi staged a sharp rebound on Wednesday, rising more than 3% in early trading after suffering a near 10% plunge a day earlier as investors returned to beaten-down semiconductor stocks.
The recovery was led by technology heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which had each lost more than 12% on Tuesday amid concerns over artificial intelligence (AI)-related spending and valuations. Samsung surged over 9% while SK Hynix gained more than 4%, helping lift the broader market.
The rebound follows Tuesday’s rout that wiped billions from the market value of South Korea’s largest chipmakers and triggered a 20-minute trading halt on the Korea Exchange. The selloff came after a sharp decline in US technology stocks, with investors increasingly questioning whether debt-funded AI investments by major technology companies can be sustained.
The Kospi, which had climbed nearly 95% year-to-date before Tuesday’s correction, remains heavily influenced by Samsung and SK Hynix, which together account for more than half of the index’s market capitalisation.
Other technology-related counters also recovered, with Samsung SDI advancing 2.6% and Seoul Semiconductor gaining 2.7%.
According to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, recent checks across Asia and enterprise AI demand trends show no signs of weakening fundamentals, suggesting the sharp pullback was more likely a pause following the Kospi’s strong rally this year rather than the start of a prolonged downturn.
The rebound in Seoul mirrored gains across Asia’s technology sector, although investor sentiment remains cautious ahead of earnings from US memory chipmaker Micron Technology, which is expected to provide further clues on demand for AI and memory chips.
CNBC
