South Korea's Kospi plunges below 5,000 as chip stocks sell off
The gist
South Korea's Kospi fell nearly 9% at the open to 4,911.28, triggering a 20-minute circuit breaker.
Samsung and SK Hynix make up half the index, so AI jitters hit hard.
How it unfolded
- Oct 13, 2026The Kospi dropped more than 7% to 5,914.35, its lowest since late July, as chip shares sold off; Samsung Electronics fell 7.7% and SK Hynix plunged 8.8%.
- Nov 2, 2026The index reversed early losses to trade near 1% higher, helped by institutional buying and a rebound in semiconductor stocks.
- Nov 3, 2026The Kospi opened at 5,715.19, down 2.46%, with the decline widening to 3.27% by 9:06 a.m.; Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were down 4.59% and 5.2%.
Key terms
- Kospi
- The representative stock market index of South Korea, covering all common stocks traded on the Korea Exchange.
- circuit breaker
- A regulatory mechanism that pauses or halts stock trading when prices move sharply to prevent market crashes.
Source: Wikipedia