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South Korea's KOSPI Drops as Much as 8.2% on Renewed Chip Selloff

June 25, 2026 at 23:05 EDT

Infra & Chips
Finance

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI fell as much as 8.2% on June 26, 2026, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both sliding more than 9%, underscoring the market's heightened sensitivity to shifts in AI sentiment.

June 26, 2026 · KOSPI

Korea's Chip-Heavy Index Buckles as AI Trade Unwinds — Again

The KOSPI fell as much as 6.3% as Samsung and SK Hynix each shed more than 7%. Foreigners dumped 2.5 trillion won in the morning alone, forcing the Korea Exchange to suspend program selling.

-6.3%

KOSPI intraday low, June 26

-7%+

Each: Samsung & SK Hynix

2.5tn

Won of net foreign selling (~$1.6bn) in the morning

Two stocks, half the index

Samsung & SK Hynix make up roughly 40-50% of KOSPI value — extreme concentration that amplifies every swing in AI sentiment.

~45%

Samsung + SK Hynix

~55%

All other stocks

The recent selloffs, by depth

-6.3%

June 26
program selling halted

~-10%

Around June 23
circuit breaker triggered

Valuation reset

Shares more than doubled year-to-date at one point. Some say this is a cooling of an overheated trade — not an AI collapse.

Concentration risk

An index where two memory giants are half the value is heavily exposed if AI demand slows — magnified by leveraged retail bets.

The shock didn't stop at Seoul.

U.S. chip names like Micron fell in tandem amid doubts over NVIDIA-linked demand and the pace of AI spending — keeping the durability of AI infrastructure investment squarely in focus.

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