KOSPI opened down 4.46% on the 2nd. The "AI bubble theory" and semiconductor sell-off shock that slammed U.S. stocks the previous day carried over intact, and the domestic market's 8,000 level collapsed at the opening.
KOSPI started at 7,933.10, down 370.31 points (4.46%) from the previous trading day. The leading semiconductor blue chips that had driven the market crumbled without resistance, and top market-cap stocks are plunging across the board under a wave of forced selling. As fear grips the market and sell orders pour in, a sell-sidecar was triggered 9 minutes after the open.
In the main board, foreigners are net sellers of nearly 900 billion won early in the session. Individuals are defending with net purchases of nearly 800 billion won, but they are not preventing the index from falling.
The KOSDAQ also began trading at 904.53, down 24.82 points (2.67%) from the previous trading day. While foreigners are net sellers, individuals and institutions are net buyers.
All three major New York stock indexes fell the previous day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 52,305.24, down 13.96 points (-0.03%) from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 ended at 7,483.23, down 16.13 points (-0.22%), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite finished at 26,040.03, down 173.69 points (-0.66%).
U.S. stocks extended losses led by semiconductors as concerns spread over a slowdown in AI infrastructure investment.
Bloomberg reported that Meta is pushing a cloud business to sell excess computing resources from its in-house AI data centers to outside companies. As Meta is a key company undertaking massive investments to build AI data centers, the move is seen as amplifying market worries that it could lead to a moderation in the pace of AI infrastructure investment.
Micron Technology plunged 10.57%, and SanDisk fell 10.62%. AMD (-6.89%) and Intel (-9.03%) also tumbled, and Nvidia, the leading artificial intelligence (AI) chip stock, declined 1.25%.
Meta, by contrast, surged 8.80%, and Microsoft and Apple rose 2.84% and 2.66%, respectively.
News that Michael Burry, the investor who predicted the U.S. subprime mortgage financial crisis and the real-life model for the film "The Big Short," took a short position on semiconductor stocks also appears to have weighed on semiconductor shares in the U.S. and Korea.
On June 30 (local time), according to CNBC and other foreign media, Michael Burry cited large-scale investment plans by Korean memory companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, saying, "The direct cause of today's stock price rise is the large-scale expenditure announced in Korea," while adding, "I see this as the 'beginning of the end,' and it is only a matter of time before the bubble bursts."