Asian stocks muted, South Korean stocks hit by chip losses

KOSPI remained an underperformer in Asia, slipping as much as 3% on losses in chipmaking stocks

Asian stocks moved in a flat-to-low range on Friday. South Korean stocks were the worst performers for the day, hit by extended losses in chip stocks as markets fretted over the impact of a new compression algorithm on artificial intelligence demand for memory.

Asian markets also cut some of their earlier losses.

KOSPI remained an underperformer in Asia, slipping as much as 3% on losses in chipmaking stocks.

Memory chip makers Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc dropped 4% and 4.5%, respectively, extending losses amid persistent concerns over AI-driven demand for chips.

Samsung and SK Hynix were trading down 13.2% and 11% for this week, respectively. This put the KOSPI on course for an 8.1% wipeout this week, making it the worst performer in Asia by far.

Broader Asian stocks moved in a flat-to-low range on Friday, with most bourses headed for weekly declines amid little relief from uncertainty over the Iran war.

Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indexes dropped 0.8% and 0.3%, respectively, with the Nikkei down 0.3% this week.

Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes gained marginally on Friday, and were down nearly 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively, for the week. Hang Seng advanced 0.2% and was down 1.4% this week.

ASX 200 declined 0.4% but was sitting on mild weekly gains, especially as energy stocks benefited from rising oil prices. Singapore’s Straits Times index added 0.3% on Friday and was down marginally this week.

Futures for Nifty 50 index increased 0.4%, with the index up 0.8% this week after four straight weeks of deep losses.