Seoul shares sharply down late Tuesday morning on retail selling - The Korea Times

A screen at the dealing room in Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI and won-dollar exchange rate, Monday. Yonhap

Seoul shares extended losses late Tuesday morning, led by falls in semiconductors and other market heavyweights, amid investor worries over the renewed tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty over artificial intelligence (AI) sectors.

After opening 0.56 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) extended losses, trading 139.03 points, or 2.04 percent, higher at 6,667.90 as of 11:20 a.m.

The decline comes after the KOSPI nose-dived 9 percent in the previous session due to a massive sell-off of technology stocks.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 1.55 percent.