South Korea's KOSPI Falls 3.73% Amid AI Spending Concerns

South Korea's KOSPI fell 3.73% Tuesday as investors reassessed the cost and potential returns of AI infrastructure spending, while AI cloud company Elice Group sank 32.04% in its market debut.

The benchmark closed at 5,552.74, down 215.27 points, at 2:30 a.m. ET (06:30 UTC) on Oct. 20. Samsung Electronics fell 2.98%, and SK hynix lost 4.23% at the same close.

Elice Group, a software developer whose products include AI cloud services, began trading on the KOSDAQ below its IPO price. Its shares lost more ground during the session and finished 32.04% below that price. The offering raised about $150 million. Elice plans to put most of the proceeds toward portable modular data centers and related infrastructure.

The KOSPI is South Korea's broader stock benchmark; Elice debuted on the separate KOSDAQ market. Elice set its IPO price Oct. 6, before the latest decline in AI-linked shares.