Asian Markets Rebound; KOSPI Snaps 7-Session Losing Streak
South Korean and broader Asian equities bounced back, with KOSPI jumping 2% and the broader Asian index up 0.6%, as chip shares stabilized after Wall Street's rebound.
What we know
An account on X reported KOSPI up 2% breaking a 7-session losing streak, with SK Hynix rising 3%. Another account on X noted Japan's TOPIX gained 1.4% and broader Asian stocks rose 0.6%, though Nasdaq 100 futures were still down 0.5% on AI spending and CoreWeave debt concerns. Markets remain in wait-and-see mode ahead of Fed Chair Warsh's remarks. MSCI is also warning it may cut Indonesia from its main indices.
How the story developed
South Korean and broader Asian equities bounced back, with KOSPI jumping 2% and the broader Asian index up 0.6%, as chip shares stabilized after Wall Street's rebound.
South Korea's KOSPI plunged ~9% with SK Hynix down 11.6% amid a memory-chip cyclical collapse and margin calls. The regulator called an emergency meeting and activated contingency measures, while the selloff rippled into crypto and global risk assets.
South Korea's KOSPI crashed 7% (down 40% from June highs), triggering a circuit breaker and wiping $203B. Japan's Nikkei fell 4% on hot US inflation fears, dragging chip stocks like SoftBank and Advantest sharply lower.
ASML raises its earnings guidance for the third time, driven by AI semiconductor demand, while South Korea's KOSPI sharply reversed after opening up 2.6%.
Memory stocks are cracking as gross margins peak — SK Hynix fell 10% on the Korean KOSPI and Micron dropped 5%, with analysts noting this mirrors prior cyclical downturns in the semiconductor sector.
South Korea's KOSPI index suffered an intraday drop of up to 7.5% with SK Hynix falling over 10%, triggering comparisons to a potential economic depression and dragging down quantum computing stocks globally.
South Korea's KOSPI collapsed over 6% as Samsung fell 5% and SK Hynix dropped 6%, wiping $150B in market cap. Taiwan and China's ChiNext also sold off sharply, while the South Korean president floated a potential rate hike.
South Korea's KOSPI crashed as much as 4.8% at open and is down over 12% across five trading sessions, with Samsung and SK Hynix falling 5%+. A program-selling circuit breaker was triggered for the first time in nearly two months.
KOSPI dropped 4-4.5%, breaking below its 200DMA, as China's CXMT unveiled a memory chip breakthrough threatening SK Hynix and Samsung's dominance. Analysts warn this could be a historic crash for a market where two memory names once comprised 54% of index value.
By the Global Eye 24 desk, with AI assistance. Updated as the story develops. Spot an error? Write to corrections@globaleye24.com.