(Photo: AFP)
HONG KONG - The Kospi in South Korea plunged 10% as tech shares took a battering on another black day for Asian stock markets, with a report of a breakthrough in China’s chip industry compounding worries about the longevity of the AI boom.
The losses extended a sell-off across the industry globally following an eye-watering rally over the past two years that has sent several indices and companies to record highs.
They also overshadowed a more upbeat outlook over the Middle East conflict as the United States and Iran paused tit-for-tat strikes for a third day and Donald Trump suggested there was a “good chance” of a deal to end hostilities.
Semiconductor firms were at the forefront of a region-wide rout on Tuesday after the website The Information said that the Chinese company Shanghai Yuliangsheng had started mass production of deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography equipment, a chipmaking technology long dominated by the Dutch firm ASML.
