South Korea AI Rout Pulls Emerging Markets Lower As Chip Valuation Fears Return

Kuala Lumpur, 2 July 2026 – Emerging-market equities fell to a three-week low as a sharp selloff in South Korean artificial intelligence-linked stocks revived investor concerns over crowded technology trades, stretched semiconductor valuations and the sustainability of the AI infrastructure boom.

The pressure was led by South Korea’s equity market, where major chipmakers came under heavy selling after investors reassessed the scale of recent gains in AI-related counters. Shares of SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics were among the key drags, reflecting their central role in the global memory chip supply chain and their large weighting in regional equity benchmarks.