South Korea shares retreat on AI concerns, set for longer trading hours

SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS

14/09/2026 04:14

KOSPI falls; foreigners are net sellers
Korean won strengthens against dollar
South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
SEOUL, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:  
** South Korean shares fell on Monday after Anthropic PBC and OpenAI raised their voices to put the brakes on artificial intelligence development. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.  
** The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 was down 138.96 points, or 2.01%, at 6,770.95 as of 02:51 GMT.  
** Chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS fell 2.12%, while peer SK Hynix 000660.KS lost 4.19%.
** Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies to slow the pace of model development amid mounting fears of AI misuse, outlining a three-step framework to pace development and create more time to manage risks.
** Starting Sept. 14, South Korea's main stock exchange, Korea Exchange, will enable after-hours trading from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time, following a similar move by alternative trading system Nextrade, which introduced evening-hour trading in March 2025. 
** Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution 373220.KS slid 1.25%, while Hyundai Motor 005380.KS and sister automaker Kia Corp 000270.KS fell 2.75%, and Kia Corp < 000270. KS> fell 1.90%.  
** Steelmaker POSCO Holdings 005490.KS shed 2.54%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics 207940.KS rose 1.20%.  
** Of the total 913 traded issues, 332 shares advanced, while 539 declined.  
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 2,284.8 billion won ($1.70 billion).  
** The won was quoted at 1,344.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.01% higher than its previous close at 1,344.1.  
** The KOSPI has risen 60.67% so far this year.  
** The won has strengthened 7.1% against the dollar so far this year.  
** In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds KTBc1 gained 0.01 point to 102.66.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR rose by 1.8 basis points to 4.041%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR fell by 4.7 basis points to 4.524%.
($1 = 1,343.8000 won)

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
((Cynthia.Kim@thomsonreuters.com; 822 3704 5655; Reuters Messaging: cynthia.kim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))