South Korea's Kospi index experienced its most significant single-day decline in history, plunging more than 12% in a session marked by extreme volatility. The massive sell-off triggered automatic circuit breakers on both the Kospi and Kosdaq exchanges, leading to a 20-minute suspension of trading. This historic rout officially pushed the index into bear market territory as it fell 20% from its recent all-time high reached just two days prior. The collapse was primarily driven by a sharp reversal in the semiconductor sector, heavily impacting major players like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Analysts attribute the crash to a combination of massive leveraged liquidations and panic-driven selling across Korea-linked ETFs. This unprecedented two-day decline has effectively wiped out nearly a year of gains fueled by the global artificial intelligence and memory chip rally.
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