Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are experiencing a sharp decline of 7 to 8 percent in early trading on the KOSPI on the 19th.

As of 9:10 a.m. today, Samsung Electronics is trading down 7.17 percent at 249,250 won, while SK Hynix is down 8.45 percent at 1,521,500 won.

SK Hynix later saw its losses widen to the 9 percent range.

Samsung Electronics is on a downward trend for the second consecutive day, following the previous day (-2.19 percent).

At the same time, in the electrical and electronic sector containing the two stocks, foreign investors and institutional investors are net sellers at 487.9 billion won and 98.8 billion won, respectively, while retail investors are net buyers at 574.6 billion won.

Investment sentiment itself appears to have contracted as inflation concerns escalated due to the heightened situation in the Middle East overnight.

A vessel attack incident occurred in the Strait of Hormuz, and international oil prices rose in the futures market.

In addition, the U.S. 30-year Treasury yield rose to as high as 5.33 percent during the session, reaching its highest level since 2007.

Consequently, AI and memory-related stocks on Wall Street, such as Nvidia (-2.343 percent) and Micron Technology (-7.02 percent), declined, and SK Hynix's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) also plummeted by 9.20 percent.

Furthermore, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled 4.98 percent.

Kim Rok-ho, an analyst at Hana Securities, analyzed, "The index showed weakness due to rising international oil prices driven by the situation in the Middle East and rising long-term Treasury yields during the session. In particular, Micron rose the previous day on expectations of memory demand for AI data centers, but declined (overnight) due to profit-taking, and semiconductor equipment stocks were also weak across the board."

(Photo: Yonhap News)