Kospi opens 3.17% lower after US chip selloff, closes 1.76% higher at 5,768.01

The Kospi opened on 19 October down 179.64 points, or 3.17%, at 5,488.41, and the Kosdaq opened down 21.72 points, or 2.73%, at 773.06, according to Yonhap, Newsis, Asia Economy and Seoul Economic Daily. Kukmin Ilbo said weakness in large chip stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix weighed on the market. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]

Newsis and Dong-A Ilbo linked the fall to a drop in US chip stocks. On 16 October, US time, the Nasdaq composite fell 572.99 points (2.15%), the S&P 500 fell 1.09% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34%, while the Philadelphia semiconductor index lost 3.83%. Newsis said the tech slump was the largest weekly decline since June and cited concern over competition from Chinese firms, rising AI data-centre costs and a reassessment of Anthropic's valuation. Maeil Business instead cited debt concerns at AI infrastructure companies and an oil price surge, and CBS NoCut News cited a rise in CoreWeave bond yields and in CoreWeave and Oracle credit default swap premiums. [ 12 , 14 , 18 , 23 ]

The loss narrowed quickly. At 09:02 the Kospi was down 1.74% at 5,569.25, and Yonhap reported a partial recovery to a decline in the low 1% range. Newsis said the index turned positive around 10:16. At 10:18 it stood at 5,675.28, up 0.13%. Samsung Electronics, which Newsis said had fallen more than 4% early on, was up 1.39% at 218,500 won, and SK Hynix, which had been down nearly 5%, had cut its loss to about 1%. Newsis said the move appeared to reflect buying after the earlier steep fall. [ 12 , 17 , 22 ]

Chosun Ilbo said that at 1:10 pm the Kospi was about 0.5% higher near 5,700 and that the Kosdaq had recovered to around 800. It said rising US index futures appeared to have restored some appetite for risk assets, while concern was growing that the chip boom driven by large AI investment could fade. [ 26 ]

The Kospi closed up 99.96 points (1.76%) at 5,768.01, a second straight day of gains. The Kosdaq closed about 1.8% higher; CBS NoCut News gave the Kosdaq gain as 1.78% to 808. According to Newsis, Samsung Electronics closed at 218,000 won (up 1.16%) and SK Hynix at 1,277,000 won (up 0.39%). Samsung SDI rose 11.70%, Samsung Biologics 9.94% and LG Energy Solution 7.20%, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell 1.52% and SK Square 0.51%. [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 34 , 36 , 39 ]

Outlets differed on who bought at the close. Newsis said institutions were the only net buyers, at 574.6 billion won, while individuals and foreigners sold 1.0862 trillion won and 36.4 billion won. Asia Economy reported net buying of about 625.2 billion won by foreigners and about 876.0 billion won by institutions, and net selling of about 1.928 trillion won by individuals. [ 36 , 38 ]

Lee Kyung-min (이경민) of Daishin Securities told Newsis that dip-buying had come in after the recent decline, that foreign net selling had eased, and that AI-related investor sentiment remained limited. Han Ji-young (한지영) of Kiwoom Securities said the week was expected to be volatile because of renewed unease about the AI industry. Newsis noted that the Kospi had recently slid from the 7,000 level to as low as the 5,400 level. [ 12 , 18 , 36 ]