South Korea’s KOSPI fell as much as 8 percent in trade today as doubts over massive investments in artificial intelligence once again led investors to dump shares. SK Hynix sank 12.6 percent while shares in Samsung Electronics dropped 8 percent. Other Asian markets also mostly declined. Japanese stocks remained mixed in their reaction to a major earthquake that rattled the southern Kyushu region a day earlier. A previous earthquake in the region caused severe damage and disruptions for automakers and other manufacturers. Shares in Nippon Paper, owner of a mill in the disaster zone that was severely damaged by Tuesday’s quake, fell 1 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex shed 3.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.5 percent to 3,793.11. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng countered the regional trend, gaining 1.7 percent to 25,738.42 and in Australia the S&P/ASX 200 added 1 percent to 9,036.90.
