Tech sell-off widens as South Korea index plunges

{"text":[[{"start":8.9,"text":"A tech sell-off continued in Asia on Monday after South Korea’s stock market plunged in early trading, triggering a 20-minute trading halt."}],[{"start":18,"text":"The Kospi fell as much as 8.8 per cent as chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both dropped more than 10 per cent. "}],[{"start":26.65,"text":"The two companies, which account for about 40 per cent of the index, pared losses in late-morning trading and cut the Kospi’s decline to less than 5 per cent."}],[{"start":36.05,"text":"In Tokyo, the tech-heavy Nikkei 225 fell 3.9 per cent, while the broader Topix fell 2.6 per cent. Taiwan’s Taiex, where chipmaker TSMC dominates, fell as much as 6 per cent."}],[{"start":50.5,"text":"The sell-off in Asia follows the Nasdaq Composite’s 4.2 per cent drop on Friday, the biggest since April last year, as shares in chipmakers declined sharply amid growing concerns about stretched valuations of companies riding the AI wave."}],[{"start":66.95,"text":"The blue-chip S&P 500 index also declined 2.6 per cent on Friday, snapping a nine-week winning streak."}],[{"start":74.15,"text":"Other Asian markets with fewer listed chipmakers declined by a smaller margin. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively."}],[{"start":86.35000000000001,"text":"The Korea Exchange held an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss measures to ensure market stability amid rising volatility. The Kospi had more than doubled this year until the sell-off began late last week."}],[{"start":98.4,"text":"Foreign investors sold a net $10bn worth of Korean shares last week alone, piling pressure on the won, which hit its lowest level against the dollar since March 2009."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":109.9,"text":"South Korea’s government announced a series of measures to prop up the currency on Sunday, vowing to take action against speculative trading."}],[{"start":117.85000000000001,"text":"Analysts at Nomura said chip shares were weighed down by recent moves, including Broadcom’s weaker than expected quarterly earnings, US customers’ request to the White House for measures to address memory chip shortages and Nvidia’s move to reduce some capacity for its next-generation Vera Rubin platform."}],[{"start":136.55,"text":"However, they stressed in a note on Monday that the “memory-related newsflow does not point to weaker demand, as the market may have misinterpreted”, adding: “Rather, all of these developments further reinforce the structural nature of the ongoing memory supply shortage.” "}],[{"start":152.85000000000002,"text":"The sell-off in Seoul eased after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said he believed the country’s stock market was still undervalued despite the Kospi’s meteoric rise this year."}],[{"start":164.05,"text":"Meanwhile, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said after a meeting with SK Group chair Chey Tae-won in Seoul on Monday that the steep falls for tech stocks were a buying opportunity."}],[{"start":175.45000000000002,"text":"“Whatever happened to the stock market, you should be very happy because now you can buy at a discount,” he said. "}],[{"start":181.3,"text":"In Tokyo, both benchmarks hit record highs only last week and the “NT” ratio between the Nikkei and Topix, which measures concentration of investor enthusiasm for tech over other industries, also reached its highest level."}],[{"start":195.25,"text":"“Last week was starting to feel pretty overheated, and we are seeing some profit-taking this morning very much as expected,” said a Tokyo-based trader. “There is quite a lot of retail money in this rally, and they tend to get spooked first.”"}],[{"start":208.6,"text":"TDK and Kioxia — two stocks whose rise since the start of the year has epitomised the rush by foreign investors to buy Japanese exposure to AI — fell 9.3 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively on Monday."}],[{"start":223.29999999999998,"text":"SoftBank, which surpassed Toyota as Japan’s largest company by market value last week, fell 7.5 per cent and is now once again worth less than the carmaker."}],[{"start":242.14999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780892951_8039.mp3"}