South Korean shares fall more than 3% as chipmakers drop on AI worries

Published on 11/18/2025 at 01:52 am EST

• KOSPI falls, foreigners net sellers
• Korean won weakens against dollar
• South Korea benchmark bond yield falls

(Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares fell more than 3% on Tuesday, dragged down by heavyweight chipmakers on worries about overvaluation of artificial intelligence stocks.
** The benchmark KOSPI closed down 135.63 points, or 3.32%, at 3,953.62.
** U.S. stocks ended down sharply on Monday, as investors braced for quarterly results from retailers and chip giant Nvidia and also awaited a long-delayed U.S. jobs report this week.
** "There are concerns about a bubble in AI stocks ahead of Nvidia's earnings release, and worries about the semiconductor 'super cycle' peaking out," said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
** Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong said the boom in AI will continue, even if there is a bubble and regardless of whoever wins in the ongoing competition, in an interview with BBC on Tuesday.
** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 2.78%, while peer SK Hynix lost 5.94%. Battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 4.32%.
** Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 2.58% and 2.47%, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 0.64%.
** Of the total 928 traded issues, only 83 shares advanced, while 821 declined.
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 548.1 billion won ($374.07 million).
** The won was quoted at 1,465.3 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.33% lower than its previous close at 1,460.4.
** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.14 point to 105.92.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 3.8 basis points to 2.870%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 3.4 basis points to 3.268%.
($1 = 1,465.2300 won)
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

Sumber : Reuters