Higher US rates, a China chip scare and exhausted local buyers hit the two stocks that make up half of Korea's index.
ZTrader.AI Research · Korea · Semiconductors The KOSPI Crash: Where the AI Boom Meets the Cost of Capital Higher US rates, a China chip scare and exhausted local buyers hit the two stocks that make up half of Korea's index. By Dorian · October 15, 2026 Korea’s stock market more than doubled in the first half of 2026, carried by two memory chip companies. Now this is the payback time. On Thursday, October 15, the KOSPI closed down 7.57% at 5,554.22, after trading as low as 5,465. SK hynix closed down 11.1% at 1,262K won. Samsung Electronics closed down 9.5% at 210K won. Foreign investors sold a net 4.82 trillion won of KOSPI shares. At 12:38 p.m. the exchange stopped all trading for 20 minutes. What is a circuit breaker in Korea? When the KOSPI falls 8% or more from the previous close and stays there for one minute, every trade on the main board stops for 20 minutes. Thursday was the firs
Premium research continues below.
Unlock to read the full report, framework, and trade path.