GoKawiilThe Samsung exhibition stand features the prominent ''A new era of mobile agentic AI'' slogan by the South Korean company Samsung Electronics.
Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plunged Thursday, dragging down South Korea's benchmark Kospi after the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped overnight.
Samsung Electronics tumbled more than 7% while SK Hynix sank over 9% at the open, wiping out billions in market value as Asia's largest chipmakers bore the brunt of the global tech selloff.
SK Square, the largest shareholder of SK Hynix, fell 13.2% to 1,525,000, mirroring broader losses across the semiconductor sector.
Samsung Electronics fell 9.06% to 286,000 while SK Hynix dropped 14.57% to 2,187,000, finishing the session sharply lower.
Samsung and SK Hynix now make up around half the Kospi's total weight, up from around just a quarter at the end of last year," Zavier Wong, market analyst at eToro, said in a note, highlighting the heavyweights' massive influence on the country's benchmark index.
"A sharp move in either name drags the whole index with it before the other roughly nine hundred listed companies get a say."
Hong Kong and Chinese tech stocks also saw a widespread sell-off, extending the regional downturn. The Hong Kong-listed shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation , China's largest contract chipmaker and foundry, fell more than 11%, while Hua Hong Grace , another Chinese semiconductor foundry listed in the city, tumbled 14%.
Knowledge Atlas Technology , the Hong Kong-listed entity behind Chinese AI model developer Zhipu, plunged more than 17% while chip firm Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor was down nearly 18%.
The selloff in Asia tracks a dismal start to July for the Nasdaq as investors aggressively dumped chip stocks.
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