South Korea's Kospi plunges 7% as tech sell-off deepens

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index sank more than 7% on Thursday, driven by a deepening technology share sell-off following U.S. stock declines tied to hotter-than-expected inflation data. The Kospi lost 7.1% in early trading to 5,584.83, with Samsung Electronics sliding 8.2% and SK Hynix plunging 10.8%. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.9%, while Wall Street's Nasdaq slipped 1.9% on Wednesday as AI-related stocks dropped. The sell-off followed U.S. data showing the consumer price index rose 3.7% year-on-year in September, up from 3.4% in August and worse than economists expected, fueling concerns about prolonged high interest rates.