KOSPI Circuit Breaker Hits as Tech Selloff Deepens on AI Doubts

South Korea's KOSPI index fell as much as 8% in the latest session, triggering an automatic trading halt known as a circuit breaker, and touched its lowest level in nearly three months. The decline was concentrated in technology names, which make up a large share of the index through chipmakers tied to global AI supply chains. The selloff followed wider signs of nervousness around AI investment. A separate report noted the cost of insuring against defaults by AI-linked data centre operators has spiked, and wire coverage described markets 'picking CoreWeave' as a bellwether for how deep the AI rout could go. It is unclear whether this is a short, technical correction or the start of a broader repricing of AI-related equities. The divergence with TSMC's record profit the same week shows investors are not yet agreed on whether AI chip demand or AI financing risk is the more important signal.