{"slug": "stocks-dip-over-4-on-extended-chip-rout-mideast-tensions", "title": "Stocks dip over 4% on extended chip rout, Mideast tensions", "summary": "South Korea's KOSPI plunged 4.46% on Monday as AI spending concerns resurfaced after Chinese startup Moonshot unveiled its low-cost Kimi K3 model, and escalating US-Iran tensions weighed on sentiment. Institutional investors offloaded 919.1 billion won, while foreigners and retail buyers added 864.4 billion won net. Samsung Electronics fell 4.31% and SK hynix dropped 4.23%, with AI infrastructure shares also declining.", "body_md": "South Korean stocks closed more than 4 percent lower Monday, as artificial intelligence woes resurfaced amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.\n\nThe benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index plunged 304.33 points, or 4.46 percent, to 6,516.27points, after falling as low as 6,472.80.\n\nTrade volume was moderate at 339.5 million shares worth 28.4 trillion won ($19.2 billion). Losers far outnumbered winners 796 to 97.\n\nInstitutional investors were net sellers, offloading 919.1 billion won. Foreigners and retail investors snapped up a combined net 864.4 billion won.\n\n\"Unfavorable factors related to semiconductors and worsening conflict risks between the United States and Iran dampened investor sentiment,\" said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.\n\nOn Friday, US stocks closed lower, weighed down by a decline in semiconductors, as the latest AI model unveiled by Chinese startup Moonshot renewed concerns over global spending on AI infrastructure, including semiconductors.\n\nThe model, called Kimi K3 and unveiled Friday, is considered to deliver performance, approaching most advanced AI models from the US' OpenAI and Anthropic, at a much lower cost.\n\nThis raised speculation over whether the massive capital spending from hyperscalers could be justified, adding downward pressure to the stock market, the analyst added.\n\nAlso weighing on the KOSPI was escalating tensions in the Middle East, after the US military announced a third US soldier died in Iraq during back-and-forth attacks between the US and Iran.\n\nMost shares closed lower.\n\nMarket top-cap Samsung Electronics dipped 4.31 percent to 244,000 won, while its rival SK hynix shed 4.23 percent to 1,764,000 won.\n\nAI infrastructure-related shares also lost ground on reemerging concerns over the sector.\n\nLS Electric lost 5.63 percent to 179,300 won, and Hyosung Heavy Industries Corp. fell 8.96 percent to 2,539,000 won.\n\nAmong the winners were Shipper HMM, which inched up 0.1 percent to 20,150 won, and refiner S-Oil, which added 1.24 percent to 146,700 won.\n\nThe Korean won closed at 1,478.4 won against the US dollar as of 3:30 p.m., up 0.1 won from the previous session.\n\nBond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys added 4.7 basis points to 3.895 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds rose 5.5 basis points at 4.154 percent. (Yonhap)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stocks-dip-over-4-on-extended-chip-rout-mideast-tensions", "canonical_source": "https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10814095", "published_at": "2026-07-20 08:55:06+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-20 13:22:26.556881+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-startups"], "entities": ["Samsung Electronics", "SK hynix", "Moonshot", "OpenAI", "Anthropic", "Daishin Securities", "LS Electric", "Hyosung Heavy Industries"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stocks-dip-over-4-on-extended-chip-rout-mideast-tensions", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stocks-dip-over-4-on-extended-chip-rout-mideast-tensions.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stocks-dip-over-4-on-extended-chip-rout-mideast-tensions.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stocks-dip-over-4-on-extended-chip-rout-mideast-tensions.jsonld"}}