Korean equity ETFs tumbled this morning, with the CSOP SK Hynix Daily Leveraged 2X Product (07709) falling 17.22% to HK$26.34, the CSOP 2x Long Samsung Electronics Product (07747) dropping 14.3% to HK$57.16, the TR Korea (02848) declining 7.99% to HK$1,612.5, and the CSOP KOSPI (03121) slipping 6.91% to HK$5.86.

On the news front, on October 13, the Korean stock market plunged at the open and triggered a circuit breaker. As of press time, the KOSPI Composite Index had fallen more than 5%, with individual stocks such as SK Hynix down over 7% and Samsung Electronics down more than 5%.

For most of this year, South Korea had been a prime example of the global AI boom. Now, by almost every measure, Korean stocks are rapidly losing investor attention. Market turnover has plunged 70% from its peak in late May, foreign investors are retreating quickly, and local retail investors in South Korea are also pulling back.

On Monday, U.S. AI-related stocks came under broad selling pressure. Intel CEO Chen Liwu said at the DBS Bank Asia Future Forward conference in Singapore that there is not much reason to expect the AI boom to slow significantly over the next two to three years, though as the industry pours massive investment into computing infrastructure, he is increasingly focused on whether returns can cover costs. Broadcom CEO Chen Fuyang said plainly that fundraising could become a bigger obstacle to AI expansion.