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Chip Giants Drag South Korea's Stock Market Down as Investors Doubt the AI Boom's Price Tag

South Korea's Kospi index slumped as much as 7.3% on July 16, led lower by chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as investors across Asia grew more skeptical that soaring AI chip demand justifies today's high valuations. The two companies, which now make up roughly half of the Kospi's total weight, lost a combined $290 billion in one trading day on July 2 and fell again on July 7 even after Samsung reported a nineteenfold jump in quarterly operating profit.