Story perspectives

Kospi dips to 6,800; AI, chip shortage fuel bond boom

7/20/2026

Summary

KOSPI Slides

Kospi slid to 6,800 after AI debates and semiconductor shortages triggered circuit breakers on three of four days.
The index fell 8.95% on July 13, rose 6.24% on July 15, then dropped 6.37% on July 16, heightening panic.
Bond issuance by Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and Oracle jumped from $20.1 billion to $194.1 billion in July 2026, prompting Kwon Beom-seok to warn that bond-market doubts could keep pressure on Korea’s semiconductor-driven market.

Summary

TSMC Expands

TSMC announced a $100 billion expansion in Arizona to add semiconductor capacity for AI demand.
ASML raised its 2026 guidance, citing extremely strong order flow for EUV lithography tools.
Forecasts project the AI market will exceed $3 trillion by the early 2030s, expanding beyond chip design.
Investors are moving funds from AI equities to defensive pharma stocks amid geopolitical uncertainty and high inflation.

History

Historical Context

The March 11 2011, magnitude-9.0 Tohoku quake shattered Japan’s northern factories, halting Toyota’s output and cutting Samsung’s memory-chip production, while Shin-Etsu and MEMC, responsible for 25 % of global silicon wafers, suspended operations. This disruption rippled through the global chip market, and the shortage now echoes to meet today’s AI-driven demand, prompting investors to watch supply closely.

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KOSPI Slides

Kospi slid to 6,800 after AI debates and semiconductor shortages triggered circuit breakers on three of four days.
The index fell 8.95% on July 13, rose 6.24% on July 15, then dropped 6.37% on July 16, heightening panic.
Bond issuance by Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and Oracle jumped from $20.1 billion to $194.1 billion in July 2026, prompting Kwon Beom-seok to warn that bond-market doubts could keep pressure on Korea’s semiconductor-driven market.

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