STOCKS | #SouthKorea : #KOSPI triggers 20-min halt after 8% plunge
Korea #Exchange pulled the emergency brake today.
The breakdown:
- KOSPI fell 8.03% to close at 7,404.48
- Circuit breaker: Full market pause for 20 minutes around 1:51 p.m. KST after the drop held for 1+ minute
- Rule hit: First-stage breaker kicks in at -8%
What drove it:
- Chip giants tanked: SK Hynix dropped over 10%, Samsung Electronics down 7.5%
- AI doubts: Traders worried the AI boom earnings might not last
- Too concentrated: Top 5 stocks = ∼70% of the index. Retail leverage + ETF redemptions made it worse
- Money leaving:
#Foreign #investors dumped $2.6B+ in KOSPI #stocks
Bigger picture: This is Korea's 6th halt this year. 2026 has been wild — the index moved ±5% on 1 in 5 trading days, vs barely any in 2025.
After trading resumed, KOSPI slid further to ∼8,203, down about 10%.
In short: AI hype cooled → profit taking → leveraged bets unwound → market halt.
$EVAA $TAC