South Korean chip stocks slide after overnight US selloff on AI boom concerns

South Korean chip stocks slide after overnight US selloff on AI boom concerns SEOUL, July 8 : Shares of South Korean memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell as much as 4.4 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, in early trade on Wednesday, tracking a broad selloff in U.S. semiconductor stocks on growing concerns about the sustainability of the AI-driven chip boom. High-flying memory and semiconductor stocks tumbled overnight, with Intel, Micron and AMD closing down 9.7 per cent, 4.7 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively. [MKTS/GLOB] Also, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost 4.7 per cent as investors questioned whether AI-related spending can be sustained. The selling was triggered by Samsung's second-quarter preliminary earnings on Tuesday, after the chipmaker's estimate of a 19-fold jump in quarterly operating profit failed to satisfy investors' lofty expectations despite robust demand for AI memory chips. Samsung's shares tumbled, fuelling a broader retreat from AI-related investments that later spread to Wall Street. By 0037 GMT, however, Samsung pared losses to trade down 2.3 per cent, while SK Hynix had reversed course to rise 0.2 per cent, outperforming the benchmark KOSPI, which was down 1.4 per cent.