Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
KOSPI sinks over 3% during intraday trading, slips below 4,000 on AI bubble concerns
An electronic trading board shows the benchmark KOSPI trading at 3,996.25 points during intraday trading on Friday. Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
The benchmark KOSPI fell more than 3 percent to drop below the 4,000-point mark during intraday trading on Friday, driven by sell-offs from foreign and institutional investors concerned about U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) bubble.
As of 1:45 p.m., the KOSPI was trading at 3,897.80 points, down 3.19 percent from the previous day’s close. The index fell below the 4,000-point mark, a key psychological threshold it had last closed above on Oct. 27.
The decline came as foreign investors net sold more than 270 billion won ($185.3 million), while institutional investors offloaded over 250 billion won. In contrast, retail investors were net buyers of about 520 billion won.
The index opened at 3,963.72 points, down 62.73 points, or 1.56 percent, from the previous session. It narrowed its losses and briefly recovered above the 4,000-point level, but has since turned downward again and extended its decline.