South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index tumbled 8% on Wednesday, extending the previous session’s nearly 11% slump and falling to its lowest level since early April as the selloff in semiconductor stocks intensified amid mounting concerns over artificial intelligence spending and elevated valuations.
Among individual companies, SK Hynix plunged nearly 13% after the chipmaker reported another record quarterly profit but missed analyst expectations.
Technology-heavy benchmark indexes in Japan and China also traded lower, while markets in Australia and Hong Kong outperformed the broader regional trend.
On the geopolitical front, the US military said it had successfully intercepted what it described as a surprise Iranian attack targeting US troops stationed across the Middle East, reigniting regional tensions and pushing oil prices higher.