With high oil prices and high interest rates persisting and the so-called "AI speed-control theory" calling for slowing the pace of artificial intelligence (AI) development coming to the fore, KOSPI opened slightly lower on the 15th.
As of 9:05 a.m., the KOSPI index was down 50.9 points (0.76%) from the previous trading day at 6,633.47. After opening slightly lower at 6,659.25, the index is widening its intraday losses.
Foreign investors and institutions are net sellers of 120.5 billion won and 61.9 billion won, respectively. Individuals and other corporations are net buyers of 173 billion won and 9.4 billion won, respectively.
High oil prices and high interest rates are weighing on the stock market. Brent crude futures for November delivery rose 1.02% to $105.68 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for October delivery settled at $101.39 per barrel. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield surged to as high as 5.012% intraday on the 14th (local time), topping 5% for the first time since Oct. 2023.
New York stocks closed lower across the board overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.29% to 52,421.20, the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index fell 0.48% to 7,619.98, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.56% to 26,186.41.
The AI speed-control theory is weighing on semiconductor stocks. As key figures in the AI industry recently made remarks suggesting the pace of AI development should be slowed, the possibility of decreased AI Semiconductor expenditure has been raised. SK hynix American depositary receipts (ADR) fell 7.6%, Micron Technology (5.25%), Nvidia (3.36%), and Broadcom (4.77%).
Earlier, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, on the 12th (local time) warned of the potential misuse of AI and urged slowing model development to put safeguards in place. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded, "That's right."
Samsung Electronics(005930) and SK hynix are trading slightly lower. They are around 240,000 won and 1.68 million won, respectively. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, LG Energy Solution and other large-cap stocks are also declining.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was down 4.22 (0.52%) from the previous trading day at 802.57. It opened slightly higher, but turned lower as foreign investors and institutions became net sellers of 29.1 billion won and 3.1 billion won, respectively. Semiconductor materials, parts and equipment stocks, including Jusung Engineering(036930), are weak.