Kospi Falls 3.59% as Foreigners Sell and AI Expansion Funding Concerns Resurface
Key Facts
South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.59%, or 210.29 points, to close at 5,648.79 on Tuesday, November 3, according to Agence France-Presse. The decline came as concerns resurfaced over how U.S. technology companies will finance their expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure, weighing on investor sentiment in a market dominated by chipmakers. The selloff coincided with heavy net selling by foreign investors and institutions, while individuals bought shares. Elsewhere in Asia, stocks were mixed, but the technology-heavy South Korean and Taiwanese markets fell to three-month lows after a selloff on Wall Street, according to The Associated Press. The Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed for a holiday.
Foreign investors sold 1.52 trillion won worth of South Korean shares, and institutions sold 511.3 billion won, while individual investors bought 1.66 trillion won worth of shares, according to Agence France-Presse. The moves showed a clear divergence between foreign and institutional capital leaving the market and individual investors buying during the session. The decline followed a 2.24% rebound in the Kospi on Monday, November 2. Agence France-Presse said renewed questions over how U.S. technology companies will finance their AI infrastructure expansion weighed on investor sentiment. As one example of funding plans, Oracle announced on November 3 that it intended to raise $20 billion through an offering of shares and bonds, split equally between equity and debt, to support its expansion in AI infrastructure and cloud computing.
The pressure extended to South Korea’s major chipmakers: Samsung Electronics fell 4.2% to 219,500 won, and SK Hynix dropped 5.2% to 1,396,000 won, according to Agence France-Presse. The Associated Press offered a different reading of the market close, reporting that the Kospi fell 4% to 5,626.08, with SK Hynix down 5.7% and Samsung Electronics down 4%. In Taiwan, the Taiex fell 3.8%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shares declined 1.9%, and MediaTek lost 7.6%. On Wall Street in Monday’s session, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq dropped 1.1%, while the Dow Jones rose 0.4%, according to The Associated Press. Coverage linked the decline in Asian technology shares to the earlier U.S. selloff, amid renewed scrutiny of the financing of AI investments.
In energy markets, Brent crude rose 1% to $105.85 a barrel, and U.S. crude gained 1.1% to $97.48 in Tuesday trading, according to The Associated Press. Agence France-Presse reported a larger rise in closing prices, with West Texas Intermediate up 2.13% to $98.51 a barrel and Brent up 2.12% to $107 a barrel. Brent had fallen 7.6% on Monday, closing at $104.77, before rebounding in Tuesday trading. The Associated Press said Monday’s sharp decline came as signs emerged of progress in diplomatic efforts in the Iran war. That day, a U.S. official told the news agency that the United States had carried out defensive strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz; the report said Iranian television reported hearing explosions on Qeshm Island. A U.S. official described the targets as Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against U.S. assets, while the report did not identify the island itself as a target of the strikes.
Diplomatic developments remain tied to the course of tensions in the Gulf. The Associated Press reported that Qatari negotiators held two rounds of talks with Iranian officials the previous week, with further rounds planned for that week. Iran said on Monday it had a two-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks with the United States if Washington met its demands. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance also said he had spoken with President Donald Trump about talks with Iran and that they were optimistic about the possibility of reaching a negotiated settlement. Vance said, "The president and I feel very optimistic about the chances of reaching a negotiated settlement." In energy data, the U.S. Energy Information Administration calendar lists November 12, 2026, as the rescheduled release date for the report covering the week ended November 6, because of the Veterans Day holiday.