SK Hynix plunges 8% amid Asia tech rout as Fed rate hike fears, AI funding worries mount

SK Hynix Inc. signage at the company's office in Seongnam, South Korea, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesA sell-off in global technology hardware stocks deepened Thursday, with Asian chipmakers tracking Wall Street losses as concerns over further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, financing of artificial intelligence investments weigh on sentiment.South Korean chip giant SK Hynix plunged over 8%, while rival Samsung Electronics fell 7.1%. Other South Korean chip-related stocks also came under pressure. LG Innotek sank 8.1%, Seoul Semiconductor shed 7.7% and Samsung SDI declined 6.8%.In Japan, technology investment giant SoftBank Group tumbled 7.9%. Semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest dropped 6.9%, while chipmaking equipment supplier Tokyo Electron lost 5.4%. Renesas Electronics declined 5.4%.The declines come as investors grow increasingly concerned that higher borrowing costs could weigh on the massive capital spending required to build out AI infrastructure, putting pressure on technology companies that have benefited from the AI investment boom.The sell-off followed a bruising session on Wall Street Wednesday, where technology shares led broader market losses after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data fueled concerns that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates further.The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.88% to close at 26,692.87, while the S&P 500 shed 1.11% to end at 7,718.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.09%.