South Korea's Kospi bounces back after chip and tech market rout

Asian markets steadied on Wednesday after a bruising tech-led selloff rattled global investors.

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index led the gains, rising as much as 4.6% in early trade after plunging 10% on Tuesday.

Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix climbed as much as 8.6% and 5%, respectively.

Elsewhere, trading was mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.1% lower at 11:14 a.m. local time after briefly trading in the green.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1%. Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.8%, as heavyweight chipmaker TSMC fell 2.8%.

The rebound followed a sharp rout in global technology stocks, as investors dumped high-flying semiconductor and artificial-intelligence names.

The volatility highlights how exposed some of Asia’s biggest equity markets have become to shifts in sentiment around AI.

South Korea has been among the world’s best-performing stock markets this year, driven by a rally in semiconductor and AI-related shares. But that strong run has left the market vulnerable to any reversal in the global AI trade.

“Overall, whether these moves continue will depend on whether the market believes the cashflows from deployment and diffusion of AI models justify the infrastructure build-out that we are seeing right now,” Michael Wan, an analyst at Japan’s MUFG, wrote in a note on Wednesday.

Despite the recent turbulence, Wan said he remains positive on the sector’s longer-term prospects.

“We tend to lean towards a more positive view and see us as just in the initial innings of a generational shift in technology deployment as the bigger picture beyond the near-term volatility,” Wan wrote.

US futures were mixed at 10:22 p.m. ET on Tuesday:

S&P 500 futures: 7,445.75, up 0.1%

Dow futures: 52,057.00, down 0.05%

Nasdaq futures: 29,782.75, up 0.4%