On the 15th, the KOSPI started lower on concerns about profitability in artificial intelligence (AI) sparked by Broadcom.
As of 9:07 a.m. that day, the KOSPI was at 4,077.34, down 89.82 points (2.16%) from the previous trading day. The KOSPI opened at 4,053.74, down 113.42 points (2.72%) from the previous trading day.
In the main board, individual investors alone were net buyers of 240 billion won, supporting the index. Foreign investors and institutions moved to "sell," at 200 billion won and 46 billion won, respectively.
All of the top 10 stocks by market capitalization were on a decline. Shares of Samsung Electronics (-3.21%), SK hynix (-5.21%), LG Energy Solution (-2.24%), Samsung Biologics (-0.77%), Doosan Enerbility (-4.14%), and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-2.79%) were all weak.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was down 10.9 points (1.16%) at 926.44 from the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ opened at 925.60, down 11.74 points (1.25%) from the previous trading day.
In the KOSDAQ market, only individuals moved to "buy," picking up 36 billion won worth. Foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 12 billion won and 20 billion won, respectively.
Eight of the top 10 KOSDAQ stocks by market cap were weak. Except for Alteogen (1.15%) and Regencell Bioscience (0.06%), EcoPro BM (-2.24%), ABL Bio (-0.84%), Rainbow Robotics (-3.03%) and others were trading at lower prices than the previous trading day.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market that day, the won-dollar exchange rate against the U.S. dollar was 1,477.00 won, up 0.5 won from the previous trading day.
On the 12th (local time), the three major U.S. stock indexes fell across the board. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 48,458.05, down 0.51% from the previous trading day. The large-cap Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq also fell 1.07% and 1.69%, respectively.
AI-related stocks tumbled sharply. In particular, Broadcom said "the gross margin of rapidly growing AI sales is lower than that of non-AI sales," reigniting concerns about profitability across the AI industry. On top of that, when Broadcom's AI business sales outlook fell short of market expectations, the stock plunged more than 11%.
Earlier, Oracle signaled a large increase in capital expenditures and a delay in the timing of revenue recovery, sending its stock down more than 4%, and reports of delays in some data center projects further heightened caution toward AI investment. Selling spread across related stocks including Nvidia (-3.27%), AMD (-4.8%), and Micron (-6.7%).
Han Ji-young, a Kiwoom Securities researcher, said, "While Oracle's and Broadcom's results themselves were solid, fundamental controversies over profitability across the AI industry remain unresolved," adding, "Whether the leading-stock narrative recovers after Micron's earnings will be key."