09/06/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | JUNE 9, 2026

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Rout in Seoul stocks leads Asian market losses

The agreements come during a high-profile trip by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to South Korea that began on Friday and has seen him dine with the country’s top corporate bosses, throw a baseball pitch and meet with a well-known gamer. Nvidia and its partners, which also included SK Telecom and conglomerate Doosan Group, did not disclose the value of the deals. SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest family-owned conglomerate, said its SK Hynix and SK Telecom arms had agreed deals with Nvidia. Memory chip maker SK Hynix signed a multi-year technology partnership that will see it commit to developing advanced types of memory for global AI data centres, SK Group said. SK Hynix and Nvidia said the agreement, which comes as memory chip makers have been straining to keep up with demand, would enable supply to keep pace with Nvidia’s plans, which have expanded to robotics, personal computers and AI supercomputers. “SK Hynix has been Nvidia’s largest memory partner. SK Hynix will continue to be Nvidia’s largest memory partner,“ Huang said after a meeting with SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won at the headquarters of the chipmaker’s parent. Huang said the deal with SK Hynix, a rival to Samsung Electronics and US-based Micron Technology, was for more than two years with the option to keep extending. “We already procure and we buy from SK Hynix already billions and billions of dollars each year, and it’s going to grow substantially,“ he said. Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said the SK Hynix-Nvidia partnership reinforced the view that memory chips were evolving from a commodity product into a more customer-specific business. SK Telecom said it would build a gigawatt-scale AI cloud in South Korea using Nvidia technology, with the first AI data centre to come online in 2027. Nvidia said internet giant Naver and conglomerate Doosan would also use its technology to help build AI data centres. Doosan, which is developing robots and makes materials used in Nvidia’s most powerful Blackwell chips, said it expected its energy HONG KONG: Seoul’s Kospi stock index dived more than eight per cent to lead a rout across Asia yesterday as tech firms were hammered and strong US jobs data fuelled bets on a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. News that Iran and Israel had traded fire sparked worries about an escalation of the Middle East crisis, adding to the gloomy mood on trading floors and sending oil prices surging more than five per cent. The technology sector bore the brunt of losses yesterday as investors cashed out following a breathtaking surge in recent months powered by a race into all things linked to artificial intelligence. The selling came after a closely watched report on Friday showed more than double the amount of US jobs than expected were created in May, while those in the previous two months were revised higher. Analysts said that showed the world’s top economy remained resilient in the face of surging prices, but ramped up bets on the Fed raising interest rates. Yields on US Treasury bonds rose as investors anticipated higher rates, while the dollar strengthened against its main rivals. All three main indexes on Wall Street tumbled on Friday, led by a four per cent drop in the Nasdaq. That heavy selling extended into Asia, where tech-rich markets felt the most pain. Seoul – which has hit multiple record highs

in the past two years, eclipsing worries about the Middle East crisis. US chipmaker Broadcom’s below-forecast revenue outlook for the third quarter added to those concerns. Fears about a re-escalation of the Iran war pushed crude prices sharply higher after Israel said on Monday it had struck targets in western and central Iran, as Iranian state TV reported explosions in the cities of Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan. Brent jumped as much as 5.1 per cent and WTI climbed 4.8 per cent. The attacks came a day after Israel said its military intercepted incoming Iranian missiles, the first such barrage since an April ceasefire took hold. Tehran called the attack a “warning” after strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israel’s strikes came hours after Trump called on it to refrain from retaliating. – AFP

o Oil rises as Iran and Israel launch attacks at each other

election of Donald Trump to the US presidency propelled it to a record high. “Stronger-than-expected labour market data reignited concerns that the Federal Reserve may be preparing to embark on a new tightening cycle,” said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes. He added that “fading hopes for progress in Middle East peace negotiations kept energy markets on edge, and a handful of disappointing guidance updates from major technology companies interrupted what had become an increasingly one-way artificial intelligence trade”. Investors were already concerned about extended valuations in the AI realm, which has been the main catalyst for a global market surge

this year – tanked 8.3 per cent as chipmaker Samsung shed more than 10 per cent and rival SK Hynix lost 7.7 per cent. Taipei and Tokyo each dived more than three per cent, while there were also hefty losses in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Manila, Mumbai, Wellington and Bangkok. Jakarta continued its painful slide fuelled by worries over the Indonesian economy, shedding more than four per cent, while the country’s rupiah hit 18,209 per dollar at one point, its weakest level ever. London, Paris and Frankfurt opened in the red. Bitcoin was hovering around US$63,000 after sinking below US$60,000 on Friday to its lowest level since October 2024, just before the

Nvidia clinches deals with South Korean giants SEOUL: Nvidia yesterday announced a series of deals in South Korea with tech giants including SK Hynix and Naver, as it looks to secure crucial memory chips to power its AI ambitions and entice new customers.

Huang and Chung look at autonomous precision landscaping robot ‘DAL-e Gardener’ at Hyundai Motor’s headquarters in Seoul yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

SK Hynix and Samsung are the world’s two largest makers of memory chips, which are key components in data centres. The country’s benchmark Kospi index has doubled in six months as heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung benefited from the AI wave, but closed 8.3% lower yesterday after robust US jobs data fanned bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike this year and sparked a rout in global tech stocks. When asked about the global chip stock rout, Huang waved off concerns. “Everybody should be very excited; they can now buy stock at a cheaper price, and it’s absolutely true that the future of AI is very bright.” – Reuters

initiatives, including autonomous mobility, robotics and AI-powered manufacturing. He also highlighted opportunities to accelerate the development of industrial robotics, saying Nvidia and Hyundai would work together to bring AI to “all forms of mobility” and deepen collaboration on robotics for practical industrial applications. Huang referred to Hyundai Motor Group’s planned AI data centre in Saemangeum as an “AI Valley” akin to California’s Silicon Valley and said he was “very happy to build Nvidia in Saemangeum”. South Korea is an Asian manufacturing powerhouse, home to major producers of chips, electronics, cars and ships.

solution to be used in Nvidia’s data centre platforms and for it to use the US firm’s physical AI technology as well. Nvidia is also partnering with LG Group on electronics, mechanical systems and AI for humanoid robots, Huang said after a meeting with the tech conglomerate’s chairman Koo Kwang-mo. Huang said the pair were also working on the architecture of future data centres including cooling, power delivery and the entire design and building of the data centres. After a meeting with Hyundai Motor Group’s executive chairman Euisun Chung in the afternoon, Huang said Nvidia would deepen its partnership with Hyundai across a range of AI