Asia stocks: KOSPI, Nikkei slide as AI chip selloff deepens

South Korean stocks led losses across Asia on Thursday as a fresh selloff in global artificial intelligence-linked shares hammered semiconductor makers, with concerns over AI infrastructure spending outweighing resilient regional economic data.

The KOSPI was last down 5% as heavyweight chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) fell 7.5% and 9.2%, respectively, extending losses after a weak overnight session on Wall Street.

The decline followed reports that Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) is exploring a cloud infrastructure business to sell AI computing capacity, fueling concerns that hyperscale AI spending could become more disciplined. Separate reports that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is evaluating memory chips from Chinese suppliers also weighed on sentiment toward South Korea’s dominant memory producers.

The weakness spread after U.S. memory maker Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) and storage company SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) both fell more than 10% overnight.

Nasdaq 100 Futures and S&P 500 Futures were little changed as investors looked past the initial selloff ahead of fresh U.S. economic data.

AI selloff reverberates across Asia’s semiconductor supply chain
South Korea’s technology heavyweights bore the brunt of the regional selloff, with SK Hynix falling to its lowest level since June 17 and Samsung Electronics sliding to its weakest level since June 8, reflecting growing investor caution over whether the AI-driven chip rally can sustain its blistering pace.

The pressure spread across the broader semiconductor supply chain. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.6% even as the broader TOPIX edged 0.5% higher.
Among chip-related names, Kioxia Holdings Corp (TYO:285A) tumbled 13.3%, Ibiden Co Ltd (TYO:4062) lost 7.9%, Murata Mfg Co (TYO:6981) and Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (TYO:5801) each fell 7.2%, while Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (TYO:5706) dropped 9.6%, highlighting broad-based selling across AI suppliers.

Taiwanese chipmakers also came under pressure, with TSMC extending recent losses alongside other AI supply-chain names as investors reassessed lofty sector valuations after this year’s powerful rally.

Outside the technology sector, SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) rose 1.5% after Reuters reported it had revived talks on a $10 billion loan backed by its OpenAI stake to support its AI investment plans., while KakakuCom Inc (TYO:2371) advanced after reports that Bain Capital and LY Corp had raised their takeover proposal for the online price-comparison operator.

Elsewhere, mainland Chinese markets proved relatively resilient. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.9%, while the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 slipped 0.9%, surrendering earlier gains despite stronger manufacturing surveys and expectations for additional policy support.

Regional data plays second fiddle to technology concerns
Regional economic releases took a back seat as investors remained focused on the outlook for AI spending.

Australia’s ASX 200 fell slightly after the country clocked an unexpected trade deficit in May, raising concerns over cooling overseas commodity demand after an otherwise strong run this year.

Indonesia’s Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 1.8%, while Nifty 50 Futures rose 0.4%.

Earlier factory surveys across China, Japan and much of Southeast Asia had painted a broadly resilient picture of manufacturing activity.

South Korea’s latest inflation data also matched expectations, suggesting price pressures remained broadly stable, while export growth continued to underscore the resilience of the country’s external sector. Nevertheless, Thursday’s sharp decline was driven more by a shift in global technology sentiment than by weakening domestic fundamentals.

Markets also remained cautious ahead of remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump later Thursday, with investors watching for any comments on trade and economic policy that could influence global risk sentiment.