Markets
The Kospi Broke Below 6,000 and Triggered Its First Sell-Side Curb in Two Months
South Korea's benchmark fell 5.95% on October 13 to 6,004.55, after trading as low as 5,911. It has now lost more than 14% in five sessions, with chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix at the centre of the selling.
The selloff in Korean stocks accelerated on Tuesday, October 13. The Kospi fell 5.95% to 6,004.55, its worst day since July 29 and its lowest close since July 30. At its low of 5,911.11, it was down 7.4% on the day. The drop below 6,000 in late morning triggered a so-called sidecar, a temporary curb on program selling that Korea uses when the market moves sharply, for the first time in about two months.
Memory chipmakers were hit hardest again. SK Hynix fell more than 10% to 1,438,000 won and Samsung Electronics about 7.8% to 231,000 won, extending Monday's losses of 4.52% and 4.39%. Local reports pointed to two triggers on top of last week's doubts about AI spending: renewed foreign selling, and reports that China's memory maker CXMT has made progress on denser memory chips, which raised fears of tougher price competition for Korea's two giants. US chip stocks had fallen for a fifth straight session overnight.
The scale of the move is the striking part. From its October 2 close of 7,003.74, the Kospi has now fallen 14.3% in five trading sessions. The tech-heavy Kosdaq lost a more modest 2.12% on Tuesday after a 4.83% drop on Monday. Japan's Nikkei, returning from a holiday, fell 1.85%.
Korea's market is unusually concentrated in a handful of chip stocks, so it tends to amplify any change in sentiment about memory demand, in both directions. The next real data points come quickly: TSMC and ASML report this week, followed by SK Hynix on October 27 and Samsung's results call on October 29.