Seoul:Seoul stocks experienced a significant decline late Tuesday morning as apprehensions over investments in the artificial intelligence (AI) value chain led to a sell-off in major chip shares.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell by 136.06 points, or 2.36 percent, reaching 5,631.95 as of 1120 a.m. After an initial drop of 0.6 percent at the opening, the index further declined to an intraday low of 5,493.24 before recovering some losses.
In the United States, stocks showed mixed results overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 0.07 percent, while the S&P 500 rose by 0.41 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 1.11 percent, closing at 26,430.89.
In Seoul, technology stocks were at the forefront of the decline. Chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. saw their shares fall by 1.03 percent and 2.74 percent, respectively. Conversely, Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., an electronics components affiliate of Samsung Electronics, experienced a gain of 2.48 percent after opening lower.
The Korean won was trading at 1,327.6 won against the U.S. dollar as of 1120 a.m., reflecting an increase of 5.5 won from the previous session's close.