Seoul:South Korean stocks experienced a significant decline, falling more than 7% on Thursday as major chipmakers faced extended losses. This drop came amidst growing worries about the sustainability of investments in artificial intelligence and interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The Korean won also weakened against the US dollar.

According to Qatar News Agency, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened with a 5.59% decrease and continued to fall, dropping 454.59 points, or 7.57%, to close at 5,554.22. At one point, it reached a low of 5,450.81.

This marked the KOSPI's seventh consecutive session of decline, its longest losing streak since September 2024. The sharp sell-off led the Korea Exchange to activate a sell-side sidecar shortly after trading began, temporarily suspending program selling for five minutes as KOSPI 200 futures fell over 5% for at least one minute.