South Korean shares head for second weekly loss as AI stock selloff bites

LG Energy Solution

23/10/2026 03:43

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KOSPI falls, foreigners net sellers
Korean won strengthens against dollar
South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
SEOUL, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:  
** South Korean shares fell on Friday and were poised to log a second weekly loss as a selloff in AI-related shares drove investors into safer assets globally. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.
** The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was down 118.59 points, or 2.14%, at 5,415.18 as of 01:38 GMT. 
** The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid more than 1% on Thursday as growth stocks weakened after earnings from mega-caps Tesla and Meta failed to allay AI-related concerns, with a recovery in oil prices further adding to market unease. 
** Shares of chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS fell 2.80%, while peer SK Hynix 000660.KS lost 0.57%. 
     ** Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220.KS slid 1.79%, while Hyundai Motor 005380.KS and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS were down 3.81% and 2.85%, respectively. 
** Steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490.KS shed 3.50%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics 207940.KS rose 6.47%. 
** Of the total 912 traded issues, 95 shares advanced, while 793 declined. 
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 589.3 billion won. 
** The won was quoted at 1,322.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.29% higher than its previous close at 1,326.5. 
** In offshore trading, the won KRW= was quoted at 1,322.1 per dollar, up 0.2% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract KRW1MNDFOR= was quoted at 1,320.8. 
** The KOSPI has risen 28.50% so far this year. 
** The won has strengthened 8.8% against the dollar so far this year. 
** In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 gained 0.21 point to 103.29. 
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR fell by 6.6 basis points to 3.774%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR fell by 7.1 basis points to 4.073%.

 (Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Cynthia.Kim@thomsonreuters.com; 822 3704 5655; Reuters Messaging: cynthia.kim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))