South Korean Stocks Hit Six-Month Low Amid AI Selloff
South Korea's benchmark Kospi index dropped to a six-month low Friday as investor concerns over AI infrastructure spending triggered a massive tech selloff.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened sharply lower on Friday, October 23, 2026, falling 2.36 percent to 5,403.17. The index eventually dropped to a six-month low, falling as much as 4.1 percent before recovering to a loss of approximately 2 percent by noon. Simultaneously, the tech-heavy KOSDAQ index declined 2.07 percent to open at 748.32.
The decline followed a sharp selloff in U.S. technology stocks, specifically the Nasdaq Composite and the PHLX Semiconductor Index. Investors expressed growing concern over the high debt-fueled spending required for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Major Korean tech firms bore the brunt of the volatility, with Samsung Electronics shedding as much as 5.1 percent and SK Hynix sliding up to 4.2 percent.
In response to cooling investor appetite for AI-linked listings, SK Hynix canceled plans for a U.S. listing of its unit, Solidigm. The broader market shift has left South Korea with some of the lowest valuations globally; the Kospi Index's 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio dropped to approximately four, a level not seen since 2006 among the 18 markets that began the year with over $1 trillion in value.
