I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Affected by the selling pressure from U.S. chip stocks, the Asian semiconductor sector fell sharply on Thursday. The South Korean Kospi index dropped over 5.7%, and the Nikkei 225 index fell by 3%. SK Hynix plummeted by 11%, and Samsung Electronics dropped over 7%. Japanese companies related to AI equipment, such as Advantest and SoftBank, also saw significant declines. Despite ASML's impressive financial forecast, U.S. semiconductor stocks like Micron and Intel had already shown a downward trend, with market concerns about the outlook for AI spending and profit-taking sentiment dominating the market
The selling pressure on U.S. chip stocks has spread to Asia, with Asian semiconductor stocks falling across the board on Thursday (16th), SK Hynix plummeting 11%, and both the Japanese and Korean markets suffering significant losses.
U.S. chip stock selling pressure spreads to Asia! Korean stocks drop over 7%, Nikkei falls 2000 points, SK Hynix plunges 11% (Image: Shutterstock)
The South Korean Kospi index opened lower and fell over 7% at one point, reporting 6866.01 points before the deadline, a decline of 5.7%. The Nikkei 225 index was weak, dropping 2045 points or 3%, reporting 66706.07 points before the deadline.
SK Hynix's stock price in Seoul plummeted 11% on Thursday, echoing the 9% decline of its ADR on Wednesday. The company's stock has been volatile since its U.S. listing last Friday, and on Monday, it recorded its largest single-day drop due to market concerns over AI spending prospects and profit-taking by investors.
Korean peer Samsung Electronics fell over 7%, Seoul Semiconductor dropped over 5%, LG Innotek fell about 1%, and Samsung SDI declined over 2%.
The selling pressure also spread to Japanese semiconductor stocks. Among AI-related equipment stocks, Advantest fell over 6%, SoftBank Group dropped nearly 7%, Tokyo Electron declined over 5%, and Renesas Electronics fell 4%.
U.S. chip stocks struggled to rebound on Wednesday, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropping over 2%. Even though ASML announced strong financial forecasts and plans to further expand its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment capacity, it failed to change market sentiment. Micron Tech plummeted 8%, Intel fell over 4%, Lam Research dropped, and AMD also saw declines .com/usstock/detail/AMD)) both fell about 3%.
The selling pressure on semiconductor stocks may be related to the upcoming IPO of Chinese DRAM manufacturer Changxin Storage (CXMT), which is also planning to expand its production capacity through fundraising, raising market concerns about increased memory supply and subsequent price suppression.
XFUNDs trader Louis Kondratev stated that the recent pullback reflects that semiconductor stocks have become overcrowded in the market due to the AI boom.
He said, "Currently, semiconductor stocks account for about 20% of the S&P 500 Index, and such a proportion is difficult to maintain in the long term."
He pointed out that during the 2000 internet bubble, semiconductor stocks accounted for just over 8% of the S&P 500, while the historical average is between 2% and 5%.
Although corporate profit momentum remains strong, Kondratev warned that as investors reassess high valuations, the pace of stock price increases may slow down.
He said, "Corporate profit momentum is indeed very strong, but it is mainly concentrated in the semiconductor industry, and as valuations gradually return to reasonable levels, this momentum may begin to weaken."