U.S. Semiconductor Stocks Fall, Spurring 7%+ Drop in Korean Market on Opening Day

Korean semiconductor stocks plunged sharply amid weakness in U.S. semiconductor shares, with the KOSPI falling over 7% in early trading. As of 9:57 a.m. on Tuesday, the KOSPI was down 531.34 points (7.74%) to 6,233.15, marking its lowest level since early June. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped over 9% and 10% respectively, while SK Square and Samsung Electro-Engineering fell 11-12%. The decline followed news of Chinese DUV exposure equipment production, which dragged down U.S. semiconductor stocks like ASML (-5.8%), Micron (-2.3%), and Sandisk (-11.0%). Analysts noted concerns over NVIDIA's cyclical investment, citing debates over its $25 billion funding guarantee for OpenAI data centers potentially inflating chip demand.