South Korea's KOSPI Falls 3.84% in Week of June 29-July 3 Amid AI Investment Concerns

According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI declined 322.87 points (3.84%) to close at 8,088.34 for the week ended July 3, driven by renewed concerns over artificial intelligence infrastructure investment slowdown. Semiconductor stocks including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 8.84% and 9.71% respectively. DB Hitek, a semiconductor equipment maker, plummeted 23.75%, the largest decline among KOSPI constituents. The sell-off was triggered by reports that Meta may sell excess data center computing resources, suggesting AI demand may be insufficient.

Contraints to the weakness, some stocks benefited from specific momentum events. KC Tech, a semiconductor equipment supplier, surged 31.32% on expectations from Samsung and SK Hynix's mega chip expansion projects. Gaon Cable advanced 51.79% after its U.S. subsidiary secured major AI data center contracts from Google, Meta, and Amazon. Cosmetics stocks, including Korean Colmar and Amorepacific, jumped 29.88% and 24.95% respectively on strong export performance.