SEOUL, June 26, 2026, 17:02 KST
- KOSPI dropped 5.8%. The index had fallen as much as 8% earlier, triggering a circuit breaker.
- Brent and WTI headed for roughly 8% weekly drops as more tankers passed through the Hormuz Strait.
- Samsung and SK Hynix are giving Seoul a more direct take on AI memory margins than on Korea as a whole.
- Cheaper oil cuts Korea’s import costs, but Apple passing on higher chip prices has pushed the squeeze to final demand.
South Korea’s AI stocks fell Friday despite some relief in oil prices. Investors faced a split market with lower energy costs but higher memory prices.
KOSPI dropped 5.8% after being down as much as 8% earlier, hitting a circuit breaker. Even after Friday’s slide, the index was still up 66% this quarter, the best quarterly gain since 1998. The move shows how far the trade had gone.
Brent crude dropped 1.99% to $73.76 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 2.07% at $70.43 by 0649 GMT. Both contracts are set to lose about 8% this week as more stranded tankers move out of the Strait of Hormuz.
This hits Seoul harder than most other equity markets. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says nearly 98% of South Korea’s fossil fuels are imported, so when oil risk cools off, it should help ease the strain for companies and consumers. Yet more than half of the KOSPI’s value comes from Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) and SK Hynix (KRX:000660), tying the index mostly to memory-chip prices and household debt. U.S. Energy Information Administration
Crude is selling off as more oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz and China remains on the sidelines, June Goh, senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities, said. Loadings at Ras Tanura, Saudi Aramco’s (TADAWUL:2222) main export terminal, resumed after nearly four months. Two VLCCs are being loaded, with each giant tanker able to take on 2 million barrels. Reuters
Rystad Energy’s MENA research director Aditya Saraswat said “two million barrels a day came back online in three weeks.” The group put Gulf shut-in production at 9.6 million bpd in mid-June, down from 11.7 million bpd three weeks before. Reuters
Hormuz traffic hasn’t returned to normal. The U.N. International Maritime Organization suspended escort runs after Evergreen Marine’s (TWSE:2603) Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely was struck near Oman. Evergreen said its crew, vessel and goods were safe; Iran said it wouldn’t guarantee safety beyond its own set routes.
Dimitris Maniatis, CEO at maritime risk firm Marisks, told the BBC there’s been a “tremendous shift” as about 80 ships have crossed Hormuz since Monday. That’s below the usual level from before the war—more than 100 ships a day. Hundreds of ships are still waiting in the Gulf. The Star
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 6.1% after it raised iPad and MacBook prices to deal with rising memory and storage costs, erasing about $250 billion in market value. The chip sector took a hit after that, as Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had been up nearly 16% on strong numbers, but Apple’s move raised doubts about how much chipmakers can push higher costs onto buyers.
Charu Chanana at Saxo said, “Big tech may at some point start to feel the pain.” Over at IG, market analyst Fabien Yip wrote that Apple’s decision brought up “serious questions about demand elasticity” and about memory-chip margins. Reuters Business Insider
Retail traders are speeding up action in Seoul. Alexander Redman, chief equity strategist at CLSA, said “volatility has blown out” and cautioned that retail investors are taking on margin. South Korea’s financial regulator admitted it was too quick to sign off on leveraged chip stock funds, while margin debt reached a record high in June. Reuters
Samsung Group is getting ready for an investment pledge of 1,000 trillion won, or $648 billion, spread over 10 years. The money would go into chips, AI data centers, batteries, and displays. Local media said part of it, about 300 trillion won, is earmarked for new chip plants in the southwest of South Korea. Samsung and SK Hynix did not comment.
The trade is tighter than the index name lets on. With oil down, Korea’s economy gets relief on imports, but Friday’s market move showed Samsung, SK Hynix, Apple pricing and margin debt drove Seoul’s tape more than Brent. Reuters said SK Hynix is aiming for a $29 billion U.S. listing, adding more global money to the busy AI-memory trade.
