SEOUL, January 31 (AJP) - Shares of South Korea’s leading chipmakers, SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, tumbled Friday as investors reacted to mounting uncertainty in the artificial intelligence sector following the shockwaves from Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.
As of 9:30 a.m., SK hynix, a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for AI applications, plunged 8.37 percent to 202,500 won, while Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, declined 2.42 percent. Hanmi Semiconductor also saw sharp losses, dropping 6.72 percent.
The sell-off came as investors grappled with concerns that DeepSeek’s emergence could reshape the competitive landscape of the AI industry. The downturn was further exacerbated by the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates steady, adding to broader market uncertainty.
The KOSPI was down 23.08 points, or 0.91 percent, at 2,513.72. The index opened slightly lower at 2,534.33, then quickly deepened its losses.
Foreign investors offloaded a net 538.8 billion won ($405 million) worth of shares, while retail investors and institutions purchased 290.3 billion won and 243.6 billion won, respectively.
The sell-off extended to the KOSPI 200 futures market, where foreign investors were net sellers of 206.7 billion won.
In currency markets, the Korean won opened sharply lower against the U.S. dollar, starting at 1,446.0 won per dollar, up 14.7 won from the previous session.
Shares of Nvidia, which had plummeted on Jan. 27 in response to the DeepSeek shock, recovered slightly, rising 0.77 percent. Other U.S. semiconductor stocks, including TSMC and Broadcom, gained 2.88 percent and 4.51 percent, respectively.
"While major U.S. technology stocks have stabilized, they have yet to reclaim their previous levels," said Cho Byung-hyun, an analyst at Daol Investment & Securities.
The technology-heavy KOSDAQ index also fell, losing 4.08 points, or 0.56 percent, to 724.66. Foreign investors were net sellers of 11.3 billion won, while retail investors and institutions bought 13.5 billion won and 2 billion won, respectively.
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