KOSPI Plummets Over 4% Amid Tech Sell-Off, Triggering Sell Sidecar

The KOSPI plummeted by more than 4% today (the 5th) due to the decline of the two major semiconductor stocks, triggering a "sell sidecar" on the main bourse.

According to the Korea Exchange, program sell orders on the main stock market were suspended for five minutes at 10:16:19 a.m. today due to fluctuations in the KOSPI 200 futures index.

At the time of the trigger, the KOSPI 200 futures index stood at 843.96, down 46.48 points (5.21%) from the previous trading day's close.

A sell sidecar on the main stock market is triggered when the KOSPI 200 futures index drops by 5% or more and persists for one minute.

This marks the first time a sell sidecar has been triggered on the KOSPI market in about a week since October 30.

As of 10:24 a.m., the KOSPI was down 4.73% from yesterday at 5,414.82.

The KDAQ index was also plunging 4.57% to 682.30.

Domestic heavyweight stocks Samsung Electronics (-6.65%) and SK Hynix (-8.88%), which started the session down 2% and 5% respectively, have been expanding their losses.

This is interpreted as being influenced by growing concerns over tighter regulations on the construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers following the U.S. Democratic Party's landslide victory in the midterm elections (blue wave).

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.