SEOUL, February 05 (AJP) - Asian stocks tracked Wall Street lower early Thursday, as fears over disruption in the software industry from rapid advances in artificial intelligence triggered broad selling.
The Nasdaq suffered its worst two-day rout since last April’s “tariff tantrums,” as investors retreated from software stocks following the release of a suite of industry-specific AI tools, including systems capable of reviewing legal contracts developed by Anthropic.
Asian semiconductor shares took a header after Advanced Micro Devices reported earnings that fell short of elevated expectations for AI-driven growth. AMD shares plunged more than 17 percent.
“The pullback reflects lingering concerns over AI-related earnings visibility,” said Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities. “Given their close linkage to U.S. tech shares, Korean stocks remain vulnerable to further downside.”
In Seoul, both the benchmark KOSPI and the secondary KOSDAQ retreated more than 2 percent, as foreign investors took profits following months of strong gains.
As of 11:05 a.m., the KOSPI had fallen 2.76 percent to 5,223.10, while the KOSDAQ dropped 2.56 percent to 1,120.00.
The won weakened against the U.S. dollar, pressured by renewed dollar strength and continued yen weakness. The move followed comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reaffirming support for a strong-dollar policy, while political uncertainty ahead of Japan’s snap election weighed on the yen.
As a result, the won–dollar exchange rate rose above the 1,460 level in early trading, with the dollar gaining 1.20 won to 1,461.70.
Foreign investors sold a net 2.3 trillion won on the main board and 2.1 trillion won on the KOSDAQ.
Losses were broad-based across sectors, led by heavyweight technology stocks, while defense and shipbuilding shares also traded lower.
Samsung Electronics fell 3.61 percent to 163,000 won, while chipmaker SK hynix dropped 3.67 percent to 867,000 won. Battery maker LG Energy Solution edged up 0.12 percent to 403,000 won.
Financial and biotech shares were mixed. Samsung Life Insurance rose 0.46 percent to 198,400 won, while Samsung Biologics slipped 0.68 percent to 1,747,000 won.
Automakers also posted mixed moves, with Hyundai Motor down 0.79 percent at 500,000 won and Kia up 0.57 percent at 157,700 won.
Defense and aerospace shares weakened, with Hanwha Aerospace retreating 5.89 percent to 1,246,000 won.
Shipbuilders were also under pressure. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 2.06 percent to 571,000 won, while Hanwha Ocean slid 2.43 percent to 140,500 won after reporting weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, prompting near-term selling despite broker upgrades and positive long-term outlooks for LNG and special-purpose vessels.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was nearly flat, down 0.15 percent at 54,210.24, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.6 percent to 4,076.89 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1 percent to 26,543.85.
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