![The trading board at Hana Bank's headquarters in Seoul displays the Kospi and other indexes on Tuesday. The Kospi closed down 732.09 points, or 10.84 percent, at 6,023.66, while the Kosdaq fell 59.01 points, or 7.72 percent, to 705.85. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/07/28/rcv.YNA.20260728.PYH2026072818210001300_P1.jpg)
Semiconductor stocks plunged on the New York Stock Exchange, leaving major US indexes mixed.
As of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday (Korean Standard Time), the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was down 5.8 percent at 10,884.79. Micron was trading 10.62 percent lower at $804.56, while AMD fell 9.74 percent to $446.72. Intel and Applied Materials also posted steep declines.
The broad selloff in chip stocks appeared to reflect mounting concerns over the scale of corporate AI investment and intensifying competition with China.
The semiconductor-led decline left the broader indexes divided. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.72 percent at 52,586.94, while the S&P 500 was down 0.2 percent at 7,399.39. The Nasdaq Composite was 1.08 percent lower at 24,662.44.
Earnings reports from AI hyperscalers Amazon, Meta, Apple and Microsoft are due later this week, with market participants watching closely to see whether the companies' investments — running into hundreds of billions of dollars — are actually generating returns.
"The market is extremely concerned about the level of spending by the hyperscalers," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth. "Spending that kind of money feels irresponsible at this point in time."
Oil prices also fell.
At the same time, the front-month West Texas Intermediate crude contract for September 2026 delivery was down 1.65 percent at $81.25 per barrel.
paq@heraldcorp.com
