BENGALURU: South Korean and Taiwanese stock markets continued to be battered by AI-related worries on Wednesday, while Singapore equities soared to an all-time high as investors sought alternatives to the volatile tech sector.
South Korea’s KOSPI slipped as much as 12.6 percent before paring losses to close about 6 percent down, while Taiwan’s benchmark index ended 3.8 percent lower at its weakest level since mid-May.
Investors have retreated from Asian chipmakers over the last few sessions on artificial intelligence worries, leaving the biggest winners of this year’s tech boom struggling to hold on to their strong gains.
South Korean equities have shed more than 16 percent over the last two sessions, bringing their June losses so far to around 33.2 percent. This is their worst monthly performance ever.
Volumes on the South Korean bourse were relatively low, signalling that buyers are shunning the market, a stark contrast to the recent retail frenzy to lock in profits from the AI boom.
SK Hynix reported a six-fold jump in quarterly earnings but fell short of lofty investor expectations, sending shares scuttling 9.6 percent to a three-month closing low.
A 5 percent drop in Samsung Electronics also weighed on the Seoul benchmark. Both stocks account for more than half of KOSPI’s market capitalisation.
Elsewhere, stocks in Singapore surged more than 1 percent to a record high of 5,696.65 points, boosted by a 1 percent to 2 percent rise in major lenders DBS, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank.