Constitution Day Saved the Market... Calls for "Make Monday a Temporary Holiday"

"Constitution Day saved the KOSPI."

On Constitution Day, yesterday (July 17), online communities were flooded with posts expressing relief that while U.S. semiconductor stocks plummeted, South Korea avoided the shock due to the domestic stock market being closed for the holiday.

In fact, in the New York stock market on the 16th (local time), the American Depositary Receipts (ADR) of SK Hynix plunged by 13.69%.

Nvidia and Alphabet also fell by 2.40% and 4.4%, respectively, and memory-related stocks such as Micron, SanDisk, Seagate, and Western Digital all declined simultaneously.

The aftermath immediately hit Asian stock markets.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 4.03% in a single day, and at one point during the session, it dropped more than 6%, marking the fifth-largest decline in its history.

Semiconductor manufacturer Kioxia Holdings plummeted 16.1% from the previous trading day, falling to 52,110 yen, which is about half the level of the all-time high it recorded last month.

In Taiwan, despite TSMC announcing second-quarter earnings that exceeded market expectations, semiconductor-related stocks fell together, causing the Taiex index to plunge 6.47%.

On the other hand, South Korea avoided the shock thanks to the market closure.

Posts such as "Constitution Day protected the country" appeared one after another on online communities and social media, though some also predicted that the shock would be unavoidable once the market opens on Monday.

Amidst this, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won spoke at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) summer forum yesterday, saying, "Memory will continue to be needed, so if you give it time, it will trend upward." He added, "I don't know what the stock price will be next month, but holding onto it rather than buying and selling is a good way to preserve your assets," in an attempt to reassure investors.

He further forecasted, "AI is still like a four-year-old child, but it will continue to need memory to reach adulthood," adding, "Demand is bound to increase exponentially in the future."

Reported by Lee Ho-geon | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.