Global Markets Slump as AI Stock Reliance Exposed in Kospi and Nasdaq Selloff

Global markets plunged Friday as South Korea's Kospi crashed over 8%, triggering a trading halt, while the Nasdaq entered correction territory after falling 10% from its October record, exposing reliance on AI-linked stocks. The selloff followed a brutal Wall Street session where the Nasdaq slumped 5.52% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 12.3%, with Nvidia dropping 9.3% and AMD falling 17%. Political uncertainty and data centre restrictions triggered the selling, but analysts highlight that tech stocks drove over 100% of emerging market gains in early 2026. Concentration risk is severe: South Korea and Taiwan accounted for 113% of MSCI Emerging Markets gains, with TSMC, Samsung and SK Hynix comprising over a quarter of the index. A sustained AI investment slowdown could trigger valuation resets across chipmakers, delay data centre projects, and disproportionately hit these export-dependent markets.