(2nd LD) Seoul shares dip over 5 pct on tech sell-off on renewed AI, inflation woes

SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- Shares on the Korean market plummeted by over 5 percent on Tuesday, marking their fifth consecutive day of losses, as worries swirled about the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and inflation concerns. Initially opening 3.1 percent lower, the benchmark KOSPI index plummeted 348.89 points, or 5.46 percent, to 6,035.35.

Foreign investors unloaded a total of 4.51 trillion won (US$3.35 billion) worth of shares, while domestic entities and individuals bought 1.69 trillion won and 2.23 trillion won, respectively. In response, the Korea Exchange, the nation's stock market operator, initiated a sell-side sidecar during early trading hours after the KOSPI slid by more than 5 percent for at least a minute.

A total of 399.87 million shares, valued at 26.79 trillion won, exchanged hands, with 628 more shares declining than advancing. Analyst Han Ji-young from Kiwoom Securities noted that worries over OpenAI's revenue and ongoing share buybacks by local chipmakers were continuing to drag down the tech sector. Overnight, U.S. stocks exhibited mixed results, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 0.38 percent and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite slipping 0.44 percent.

The tech downturn intensified following reports of rapid advancements in technology by Chinese rival ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT). Key tech companies were hit hard, with Samsung Electronics dropping 7.39 percent to 232,000 won, SK hynix declining 10.09 percent to 1.44 million won, Hanwha Aerospace falling 2.67 percent to 839,000 won, and Hyundai Motor sliding 1.56 percent to 315,000 won.

Conversely, HMM shipping firm rose 1.15 percent to 22,050 won, and state-owned utility Korea Electric Power Corp. increased 2.1 percent to 29,150 won. As of 3:30 p.m., the Korean won traded at 1,345.1 won per U.S. dollar, up from 1,335.1 won from the prior session's close. Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, also rose, with the yield on three-year Treasurys falling 6.4 basis points to 3.857 percent and the return on benchmark five-year government bonds declining 7.1 basis points to 4.030 percent.