Kospi Falls 6% as Taiwan Posts Biggest Weekly Loss Since September 2001

Key Facts

Taiwanese stocks fell 4.5% in Friday’s November 6 session, closing at their lowest level since late April and recording their biggest weekly loss since September 2001, according to The Edge Malaysia. In South Korea, the Kospi fell 6% at the close after dropping as much as 8.8% during the session, triggering a trading curb before the index pared some losses. Market data showed the Kospi closed at 5,059.69 points, down 6.02%, or 324.11 points, from the previous session. The selloff came as concern mounted over returns from the artificial-intelligence boom and the prospect of tighter U.S. restrictions on the sector. Pressure also hit Korean chip stocks, with Samsung Electronics down 10% and SK Hynix down 13% in early trading, according to Reuters.

The losses in Asia reflected pressure that followed a sharp session on Wall Street on Thursday, November 5, when the S&P 500 fell 4.4% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.5%. The S&P 500’s decline was its biggest since the market selloff in April 2025, according to the Associated Press. Reports linked the selloff to concerns about tighter U.S. regulation of the artificial-intelligence industry, as well as waning optimism about the pace of investment growth in the sector. In South Korea, concerns that construction of AI data centers could slow after the U.S. midterm elections weighed on stocks. An official at the Seoul-based Institute for Global Economics said investors’ reaction to the election result “may be exaggerated.”

Concerns grew that U.S. restrictions could affect both chips and data centers, as semiconductor stocks in North Asia led the declines. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 4.7% to its lowest level since early April, hurt by a drop in regional technology stocks, according to The Edge Malaysia. In Singapore, stocks fell 2.8%, with DBS down 2.5% and United Overseas Bank down 3.2%. The Singapore index lost more than 4% over the week, after a selloff in bank stocks followed lenders’ announcement of lower-than-expected earnings. Pressure thus spread from chipmakers to broader sectors and indexes across Asia and emerging markets.

In Taiwan, the decline coincided with a sharp outflow of foreign investors, who were net sellers of shares worth 91.19 billion Taiwan dollars on the main market in Friday’s session. Their net sales totaled 705.658 billion Taiwan dollars over the seven sessions ended November 6, according to the Taipei Times. The government authorized activation of the 500 billion Taiwan-dollar National Stabilization Fund to support local stocks, the newspaper reported. In South Korea, authorities temporarily eased leverage-investment rules for retail investors, while Taiwan’s finance ministry asked officials at state-owned banks to support the market, according to Reuters. The moves reflect official efforts to contain volatility after losses widened during the week. The chief strategist at Interactive Brokers said the market “may be oversold in the short term,” but added that the questions and underlying reasons for the decline “will not disappear easily.”

Attention now turns to Morgan Stanley’s November index review, with the company saying its results will be released on November 11, 2026. The changes are scheduled to take effect at the close of trading on November 30, 2026. The date comes as markets track the impact of official interventions in Taiwan and South Korea and the path of investor flows after the selloff. The November 6 losses followed a drop in U.S. stocks in the previous session, while Taiwan recorded its biggest weekly loss since September 2001. The index review is the next announced milestone on the market calendar.