SEOUL — South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index tumbled 3.26% on Monday, marking its third consecutive session of losses as a combination of rising U.S. interest rate expectations, surging oil prices and fresh doubts about the pace of artificial intelligence spending hit the country's heavyweight technology stocks hard.

The KOSPI closed at 6,684.37, down 225.54 points from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. The index opened sharply lower at 6,692.61, down 3.14%, and briefly clawed back some losses during the session before selling resumed and pushed the index to an intraday low of 6,654.82, a decline of as much as 3.69% at its worst point. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ index also fell, closing at 806.79, down 13.85 points, or 1.69%.

The selloff was driven in large part by renewed jitters over the outlook for artificial intelligence spending, which weighed heavily on South Korea's dominant chipmakers. Samsung Electronics shares dropped 3.76%, while rival SK Hynix fell 5.30%. SK Square, a major investor in SK Hynix, tumbled 7%. The declines came even as Samsung unveiled its next-generation HBM4 memory chip on the same day, an announcement aimed at reinforcing the company's position in the artificial intelligence accelerator market, underscoring how broader macroeconomic concerns overshadowed company-specific developments.

Compounding the pressure on risk sentiment, oil prices climbed above $108 a barrel amid stalled diplomatic talks tied to tensions in the Middle East, adding to cost concerns for........

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