KOSPI closes about 5.5% lower as chip selloff extends Korea’s retreat

South Korea’s KOSPI finished Tuesday, October 13, about 5.5% lower at roughly 6,035, according to an SBS closing bulletin. The benchmark recovered above 6,000 after a steeper intraday slide, extending a losing streak that had already lasted four sessions through Monday.

A smaller closing loss after a sharp intraday fall

Earlier in Tuesday’s session, an Associated Press report put the index at 5,914.35, down 7.4%. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were down 7.7% and 8.8%, respectively, in that report. Those company figures are intraday readings, not closing returns.

AP linked the selling to concerns about the artificial-intelligence boom and reported competitive advances by Chinese memory-chip producer CXMT.

The rebound above 6,000 reduced the benchmark’s loss from the level in AP’s earlier snapshot. SBS’s initial closing bulletin reported the index and percentage decline in rounded terms, so the close is presented here without implied decimal precision.

Monday’s decline set the backdrop

The KOSPI had already fallen 3.65% on Monday, closing at 6,384.24, according to Yonhap. Yonhap described Monday as the fourth consecutive losing session, making Tuesday’s decline the fifth.