Korean Won, New Taiwan Dollar Underperform Amid Chip-Stock Selloff -- Market Talk

1020 GMT - The Korean won and Taiwanese dollar are among Asia's worst-performing currencies as the benchmark Kospi and Taiex lead regional equity markets lower, weighed by a selloff in chip stocks. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 2.7% overnight. "In our view the dominant theme was a memory selloff," Saxo Bank says in a note. South Korean memory-chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix slumped 7.4% and 10%, respectively, dragging the Kospi down 5.5%. Taiwan's Taiex shed 1.9% as index heavyweight TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker, lost 2.0%. The U.S. dollar rises 0.3% to 1,339 won, on track for its strongest daily gain in nearly two weeks, according to LSEG. The dollar climbs 0.7% to NT$32.15, on course for its biggest advance in more than seven months. (farah.elias@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 13, 2026 06:20 ET (10:20 GMT)