The KOSPI edged lower Friday as investors remained cautious, with weakness in chip stocks and lingering inflation concerns over the Middle East conflict keeping risk appetite in check. The benchmark index closed at 6,258.77, down 0.6 percent from the previous session. It opened 1.09 percent higher but gave up its early gains and slipped into negative territory. Foreign investors sold a net 858.1 billion won ($605.7 million) worth of shares, while institutional and retail investors bought a net 579 billion won and 267 billion won, respectively. SK hynix fell 4.88 percent to close at 1.422 million won, while Samsung Electronics edged up 0.22 percent to finish at 231,000 won. Reports that Nvidia is considering lowering the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) specifications for its Rubin Ultra platform dampened sentiment toward chip stocks. SK hynix, which has greater exposure to HBM, came under pressure and dragged the benchmark lower. Still, Micron reiterated that memory supply remains tight, noting that memory chips now account for as much as 50 percent of the value of artificial intelligence comp