Kospi Plunges to 5,663 Amid Semiconductor Rout; Circuit Breakers Triggered for Second Straight Day

[Anchor]

The Kospi, which plummeted more than 10% yesterday (the 28th), fell nearly 6% again today, dropping below the 6,000 mark. As major semiconductor stocks faltered—including SK Hynix plunging despite posting record earnings—circuit breakers were simultaneously triggered on both the Kospi and Kosdaq markets for the first time in history for two consecutive days.

Reporter Choi Seung-hun has the details.

[Reporter]

Today, the Kospi finished trading down 360 points, or 5.98%, at 5,663.

In early trading, bargain hunting following yesterday's crash pushed the index up by over 3%, but it soon turned downward.

Intraday losses exceeded 12%, pushing the index down to the 5,200 level amid extreme volatility.

The Kosdaq also closed down 6.12% at 662.

Circuit breakers, which suspend trading for 20 minutes, were triggered after intraday losses exceeded 8% in both markets.

This is the first time circuit breakers have been simultaneously triggered on both the Kospi and Kosdaq for two consecutive days.

SK Hynix closed down 9.35% at 1,405,000 won, while Samsung Electronics ended the session 5.23% lower at 208,500 won.

Due to the sharp stock plunge, the total market capitalization of the domestic stock market fell below 5,000 trillion won for the first time in about four months.

In particular, SK Hynix could not avoid a steep decline despite announcing record-breaking quarterly earnings.

Second-quarter revenue reached 79.3 trillion won and operating profit stood at 60.5 trillion won, both setting all-time quarterly highs.

However, operating profit fell 4.7% short of market expectations, and the increase in the average selling price of DRAM fell short of expectations as shipments of some high-value products were delayed.

Analysts suggest that investor sentiment was further dampened as specific scales and timelines for shareholder return plans were not presented.

Analysts in the securities industry also note that amid panic selling driven by dashed hopes for a rebound, a surge in trading of single-stock inverse products further amplified intraday volatility.

(Video Editing: Choi Jin-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.