Japanese and South Korean equities opened weak early on 19 October amid concerns about AI-related stocks. Losses widened in Japan, while South Korea recovered slightly after the open. Major stocks including Samsung Electronics and SoftBank Group fell.
Early on 19 October, South Korea's market opened lower before recovering slightly. KOSPI was down 3.17% at the open, later narrowing its decline to 1.16%. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 opened down 0.77% and later fell as much as 1.73%. South Korean stocks Samsung Electronics and SK hynix traded lower, falling 0.93% and 1.18%, respectively. In Japan, Kioxia fell 2.58% and SoftBank Group fell 4.43%.
Concerns about the outlook for AI-related investment spread against the backdrop of developments in US markets, prompting selling in technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34%, the S&P 500 fell 1.09%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.15%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq recorded their largest weekly declines in about four months. Weakness in semiconductor stocks weighed on the market, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling for an eighth consecutive session.
Among AI infrastructure-related stocks, AI cloud services company CoreWeave fell more than 10%, optical communications company Coherent fell more than 7%, SanDisk fell about 7%, and Oracle fell about 5%. Investors continued selling related stocks amid concerns about AI investment risks, debt-financing costs and future returns on investment.
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