South Korean shares rebound as chipmakers recover from AI-driven selloff

South Korean shares rebounded on Monday, with the benchmark KOSPI rising more than 1.5% as semiconductor stocks recovered from last week's sharp losses. Investors also shrugged off concerns surrounding Nvidia after assurances that issues affecting the US chipmaker would not disrupt South Korea's contracted supplies of graphics processing units (GPUs), Reuters reported.

KOSPI gained 79.58 points, or 1.57%, to 5,139.27 as of 0146 GMT. The index had plunged 6% on Friday to close at its lowest level since March 31.

Read more: Global Market Today: Asian stocks open mostly higher, Nvidia probe looms


A senior South Korean official said issues currently affecting Nvidia would not affect the country's contracted GPU supplies from the US artificial intelligence chipmaker, easing concerns over potential disruptions to the domestic semiconductor industry.

The recovery followed a rebound on Wall Street on Friday, when US equities regained some ground after fears of tighter US regulation of artificial intelligence wiped trillions of dollars off global stock markets a day earlier and triggered a flight to government bonds.

Semiconductor stocks carry significant weight in South Korea's equity market, with memory-chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix among the benchmark's largest constituents and key beneficiaries of growing AI-related demand.

Shares of Samsung Electronics rose 2.9%, while SK Hynix advanced 4.7%, recovering from steep losses recorded during Friday's selloff.

Read more: Wall Street grapples with $5.7 trillion rout as AI bets unwind

Reuters reported that Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young expected the market to avoid a repeat of last week's sharp crash unless further negative developments emerged from macroeconomic indicators or AI earnings events this week.

However, gains remained uneven across the broader market. Battery maker LG Energy Solution fell 2.37%, while Hyundai Motor and its sister company Kia Corp declined 0.89% and 2.59%, respectively.

Steelmaker POSCO Holdings slipped 0.19%, while pharmaceutical company Samsung BioLogics gained 2.37%. Market breadth remained negative, with 445 stocks declining against 408 advancing among the 910 traded issues. Foreign investors remained net sellers, offloading shares worth 512.1 billion won ($375.54 million).

In the currency market, the South Korean won strengthened 0.18% to 1,360.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, compared with its previous close of 1,363.0.

In the bond market, the yield on the most liquid three-year Korean Treasury bond rose 2.4 basis points to 3.646%, while the benchmark 10-year yield increased 2.5 basis points to 3.877%.

(Disclaimer: This article is based on inputs from agencies. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)