South Korean shares fall on AI trade worries ahead of US tech earnings
South Korean stocks fell on Monday amid concerns over the AI trade ahead of earnings from US tech giants. The KOSPI dropped 1.46 per cent, led by declines in chipmakers and automakers. The won strengthened and bond yields fell.
South Korean shares closed lower on Monday as concerns over the artificial-intelligence trade intensified ahead of quarterly earnings from US megacap technology companies this week, according to financial market data.
The benchmark KOSPI index fell 80.83 points, or 1.46 per cent, to 5,469.47. Chipmaker Samsung Electronics dropped 1.16 per cent, while peer SK Hynix lost 0.16 per cent. SK Hynix said it will announce shareholder return measures on Wednesday when it releases quarterly results, responding to a report that it is considering a special dividend of about 16 trillion won (US$12 billion), Reuters reported.
Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 2.09 per cent, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 2.54 per cent and 1.68 per cent, respectively. Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 2.18 per cent, and drugmaker Samsung BioLogics fell 0.95 per cent.
Of the total 914 traded issues, 101 shares advanced while 792 declined. Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 695.5 billion won. The KOSPI has risen 29.79 per cent so far this year.
This week, about one-third of S&P 500 companies report quarterly results, including Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon — three AI hyperscalers whose capital spending forecasts will be closely watched, the report said.
The won strengthened against the US dollar. It was quoted at 1,323.1 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.23 per cent higher than its previous close at 1,326.2. In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,322.3 per dollar, up 0.1 per cent on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,321.3. The won has strengthened 8.8 per cent against the dollar so far this year.
In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.12 point to 103.27. The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 2.8 basis points to 3.788 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 2.5 basis points to 4.074 per cent.