Japan and South Korea Stocks Slump Amid Tech Sector Sell-off

Key Facts

1South Korea's KOSPI index fell over 3% with Samsung shares dropping more than 5%.

2Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped over 1% at the open, tracking overnight losses in U.S. stocks.

3Kioxia shares recorded a sharp decline of over 7% amid a broad sell-off in the chip sector.

South Korea's KOSPI index fell over 3% as Samsung shares dropped more than 5%. Financial News reported that Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped over 1% at the open, tracking overnight losses in U.S. stocks. Kioxia shares recorded a sharp decline of over 7% amid a broad sell-off in the semiconductor sector.

Kioxia (285A.T) closed at 12,595 yen on October 22, 2026, having reached a daily low of 12,535 yen. The decline in Asian markets followed a plunge in the Nasdaq and intensified institutional selling, even as Japanese economic data showed the annual inflation rate at 2.1% on October 22, 2026.

Market participants are looking ahead to South Korea's Consumer Confidence data on October 26, 2026, followed by the release of annual and quarterly GDP growth rates on the same day.