Seoul: South Korean stocks dipped almost 2 percent Monday, as concerns over an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble reemerged. The Korean won was trading higher against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 76.57 points, or 1.84 percent, to close at 4,090.59.

According to Yonhap News Agency, trade volume was moderate at 344 million shares worth 15.3 trillion won (US$10.4 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 529 to 350. The local stock market came under selling pressure amid renewed concerns over the profitability of U.S. tech companies' investments into AI, triggered by the disappointing AI margins outlook of Broadcom and Oracle.

Foreign investors and institutions unloaded local shares worth 957 billion won and 474 billion won, respectively, while retail investors purchased 1.4 trillion won. "Concerns surrounding an AI bubble reemerged right after the financial market digested the December meeting of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which was favorable to the market," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said. The FOMC decided last week to lower the key rate by 0.25 percentage point to the 3.5-3.75 percent range.

On Friday, U.S. stocks were also dragged down by tumbling tech shares, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite down 1.7 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average giving back 0.5 percent and the S and P 500 dropping 1.1 percent.

In Seoul, top-cap Samsung Electronics plummeted 3.76 percent to 104,800 won, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix slid 2.98 percent to 554,000 won. Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace shot down 5.52 percent to 908,000 won, and power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility went down 3.26 percent to 77,100 won. AI investment firm SK Square slipped 5.03 percent to 292,500 won.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor pulled back 2.65 percent to 293,500 won, and its auto-parts making subsidiary Hyundai Mobis contracted 3.44 percent to 364,500 won. In contrast, local metal producer Korea Zinc vaulted 4.87 percent to 1.59 million won, after reports the company is seeking to jointly invest with Washington in building a critical metal refinery in the United States. Samsung Biologics escalated 4.73 percent to 1.77 million won, and secondary battery maker POSCO Future M gained 2.48 percent to 227,000 won.

The local currency was quoted at 1,471.0 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 2.7 won from the previous session's close. Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys plummeted 9.3 basis points to 3 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds shed 9.1 basis points to 3.259 percent.