KOSPI Plunges 8.95% on 'Black Monday,' Falling Below 7,000

[Anchor]

The KOSPI has faced a 'Black Monday,' collapsing below the 7,000-point mark. After surpassing 7,000 points for the first time in history on May 6, the index broke through the 8,000-point level just 20 days later. Only a month ago, it reached 9,000 points, fueling optimistic forecasts that it might even hit the dream milestone of 10,000. However, amid persistent concerns over a peak in the semiconductor cycle, increased volatility from leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the index to lose the 8,000-point level earlier this month, and today (July 13), it plummeted to the 6,800 range.

Our first report is from Jeong Seong-jin.

[Reporter]

The KOSPI opened slightly lower at 7,412 and, after repeated fluctuations, saw its losses widen rapidly.

A sidecar was triggered as the KOSPI 200 futures index fell by more than 5%, and the 7,000-point threshold collapsed shortly after noon.

Subsequently, a circuit breaker was triggered, halting trading for 20 minutes as the market plunged by more than 8%.

This marks the 7th circuit breaker this year and the 13th in history.

The KOSPI ultimately closed at 6,806, a sharp decline of nearly 9%, returning to levels seen about two months ago.

The crash was largely driven by the sharp decline of the market leaders, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

SK Hynix plummeted by more than 15%, falling below the 2 million won mark and dropping into the 1.8 million won range, while Samsung Electronics closed at the 250,000 won level, down 10%.

While individual investors net bought nearly 4 trillion won in shares, institutions and foreign investors net sold 2.2 trillion won and 1.7 trillion won, respectively, dragging down the index.

Analysts point to a combination of factors: the persistent 'semiconductor peak' theory—the belief that the memory market has passed its prime due to a slowdown in AI investment—and rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend, which triggered a flood of profit-taking and risk-aversion selling.

[Interview: Seok Byung-hoon / Professor of Economics, Ewha Womans University: Until new evidence emerges that investment demand related to AI will continue to grow, it seems likely that adjustments due to profit-taking and concerns over a market peak will continue for the time being.]

It is also analyzed that volatility in leveraged products, with single-stock leveraged ETFs for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix hitting record lows, further amplified the downward trend.

The total market capitalization of the domestic stock market, which had surpassed 8,000 trillion won last month to become the 6th largest in the world, has fallen to the 6,000 trillion won range, dropping two spots to 8th globally.

(Reported by Shin Jin-soo | Video by Yoon Tae-ho | Graphics by Park Tae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.