South Korea's Kospi share index falls 8%, other Asian shares are also mostly lower
TOKYO (AP) — South Korea’s Kospi stock index dropped more than 8% on Wednesday as doubts over massive investments in artificial intelligence once again led investors to dump shares.
The latest rout was led by a plunge in shares in chipmaker SK Hynix after its operating profit in the last quarter fell short of analysts’ forecasts even though it soared sixfold to a record 60.5 trillion won ($41.2 billion).
By midday in Seoul, the Kospi was down 8.2% at 5,531.56. The benchmark only recently had topped 9,000 before toppling back to its lowest level since early April.
SK Hynix sank 12.6% while shares in Samsung Electronics dropped 8%.
Other Asian markets also mostly declined.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.8% to 61,038.63, giving up early gains.
Japanese stocks were mixed in their reaction to a major earthquake that rattled the southern Kyushu region a day earlier. A previous earthquake in the region caused severe damage and disruptions for automakers and other manufacturers.
Shares in Nippon Paper, owner of a mill in the disaster zone that was severely damaged by Tuesday’s quake, fell 1%
Taiwan’s Taiex shed 3.6%.
The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.5% to 3,793.11.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng countered the regional trend, gaining 1.7% to 25,738.42 and in Australia the S&P/ASX 200 added 1% to 9,036.90.
Oil prices that had eased from the two-month high that they hit last week rebounded.
Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 4.2% to $87.58 a barrel.
Benchmark U.S. crude also gained 4.2%, to $82.58.
On Tuesday, shares were mixed on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 added 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1%.
The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2%.
The majority of U.S. stocks rose after more companies delivered stronger profits for the spring than analysts expected. Coca-Cola climbed 5% after its revenue rose 7%.
Expectations for stellar earnings reports are weighing particularly heavily on stocks of chipmakers and other companies that have been huge winners from the boom in artificial-intelligence technology.
Micron Technology’s stock came into the day having more than tripled for the year following gangbuster growth, but its shares sank 8.9%.
Others also helping to keep the market in check were Advanced Micro Devices, down 8.1%, and Applied Materials, down 7.8%.
In currency trading in Asia, the U.S. dollar slipped 163.57 Japanese yen from 163.81 yen. The euro cost $1.1399, up from $1.1391.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
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