South Korea’s benchmark Kospi gave up earlier gains to fall more than 3% on Friday, retreating from a fresh record high above 8,000 points as broader Asia-Pacific markets fell.
Investors followed the second day of high-profile talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Shares of small-cap Kosdaq fell 2.61%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell by 1.1%, and the Topix by 0.13%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was little changed.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.89%, while the CSI 300 was unchanged. India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.2%.
On May 5, Kospi exceeded 7,000 points for the first time, after Samsung Electronics, a major index heavyweight, reached a record level, surpassing the market capitalization of 1 trillion dollars, reports SEEbiz.
The record streak comes amid concerns about concentration risks, particularly in AI stocks. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together accounted for a record 42.2% of Kospi in May, according to Manulife Investment Management.
Earlier gains in the South Korean market reflected investor optimism that talks between Trump and Xi could ease tensions over trade and technology exports, particularly for chipmakers and artificial intelligence-related stocks.
Shares in Samsung Electronics fell more than 5% after its union said it would go ahead with a planned 18-day strike from May 21 involving more than 45,000 workers, although the firm proposed continuing wage talks without preconditions.
The union has said it is ready to return to negotiations after June 7.
Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a closely watched summit, joined by a delegation of US business leaders, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang.
