South Korea’s korean stock market plunged 8.3% on early Monday trading, with the benchmark KOSPI index falling to 7,484.41 and triggering a circuit breaker that halted trading for 20 minutes. The Korea Exchange activated the Level 1 circuit breaker after the index remained down more than 8% from the previous close, suspending all trading on the KOSPI shortly after market open.
Semiconductor giants led the sell-off, with Samsung Electronics tumbling 10.2% and SK Hynix dropping 7.7%. The korean stock market decline was driven by a combination of factors: a sharp U.S. tech selloff following Broadcom’s disappointing guidance, renewed inflation fears tied to U.S. economic data, and heavy foreign investor outflows. A broad unwinding of AI-related trades that had driven Korean stocks up 75% year-to-date added to the pressure.
The circuit breaker mechanism is designed to cool markets during sharp declines. It is triggered when the KOSPI falls 8% from the previous close and maintains that decline for at least one minute, automatically halting trading for 20 minutes. After the halt, trading resumed with the index down approximately 7.9% in afternoon sessions.
Sources
- Reuters — reported KOSPI fell 8.8%, triggering circuit breakers at 0003 GMT with 20-minute halt
- Yonhap News Agency — confirmed Samsung Electronics slid 10.18% to 295,500 won, SK Hynix dipped 7.68%
- The Business Times — reported Samsung tumbled 10.2%, SK Hynix dropped 7.7%, citing Fed fears and tech rout
- KED Global — identified foreign selloffs and AI-bubble fears as drivers of the decline
- Investing.com — reported KOSPI fell as much as 8.8% to 7,442.73 points
