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KOSPI Crashes Over 10% in Chip Rout

KOSPI Crashes Over 10% in Chip Rout

The crash in Seoul triggered a broader global sell-off, with Nasdaq-100 futures dropping more than 1% and European chip shares tumbling.

The panic was fueled by a report that Chinese company CXMT had begun mass-producing immersion deep-ultraviolet lithography machines, threatening the dominance of South Korean chipmakers.

The sell-off deepened as investors worried about excessive corporate debt levels in the AI buildout.

The rout marked the worst day for South Korean stocks since March and erased billions in market value.

KOSPI
Stock market index
Samsung Electronics
South Korean multinational electronics corporation
SK Hynix
South Korean memory semiconductor supplier
Changxin Memory Technologies
Chinese semiconductor manufacturer