South Korean shares sink over 5% as chipmakers slide on AI concerns

South Korean shares tumbled more than ​5% on Monday, hitting their lowest ⁠levels in nearly two months, as a selloff in chipmakers, led by SK Hynix, deepened worried over the durability of ‌the AI-driven rally.

The benchmark KOSPI was down 384.37 points, or 5.14%, at ‌7,091.57 as of 0235 GMT. It fell ‌as ⁠much as 6.13% to hit the lowest ⁠since May 20 and trigger a "sidecar" trading curb, temporarily halting algorithm trading.

SK Hynix lost 10.32% as investors booked profits after ​a high-profile U.S. ‌listing saw the world's leading AI memory chipmaker surge 12.8% in its Nasdaq debut on Friday. Peer chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 6.14%.

"Despite a successful U.S. ‌listing for SK Hynix, worries about the memory ​chip cycle peaking have not been resolved," said Han Ji-young, an analyst at ⁠Kiwoom Securities.

Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 2.61%, while Hyundai Motor and sister ‌automaker Kia Corp were up 0.11% and 0.20%, respectively.

Steelmaker POSCO Holdings added 1.59%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics rose 2.44%.

Of the total 912 traded issues, 346 shares advanced, while 543 declined.

Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 1.04 ‌trillion won ($690.73 million).

*The won was quoted at 1,505.6 per ​dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.47% lower than its previous close at 1,498.5.

In ⁠money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury ⁠bonds lost 0.11 point to 102.99.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond ‌yield rose by 5 basis points to 3.813%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 5.1 ​bps to 4.275%.