South Korea’s stock market took a hit as the bourse operator activated a sell-side sidecar for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) following a sharp decline. Program trading for the KOSPI was briefly halted at around 1:31 p.m. due to the tumble, as reported by the Korea Exchange (KRX). Investors, particularly foreigners and individuals, sold a total of 784 billion won (US$519 million) worth of stocks by 1:40 p.m., surpassing institutional buying valued at 767.9 billion won, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The KOSPI faced significant selling pressure with technology and other large-cap stocks being offloaded as investors reevaluated the future of artificial intelligence (AI) trade. The market opened lower, reflecting losses from Wall Street, with the KOSPI initially dropping 2.7 percent before recovering slightly to trade down 108.18 points or 1.41 percent at 7,548.13 by 9:15 a.m.
Tech stocks, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, led the market declines, while companies like LG Electronics and LG Display saw gains. The Korean won was trading at 1,518.65 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 2.85 won from the previous session. Investors are closely monitoring factors such as rising capital spending, competition, and production capacity to assess the earnings growth potential of technology firms amid high valuations.
