The index, which has been driven by the memory chip makers, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. et al., up over 145% from March 2025 to the February 25, 2026 peak is now down 10% on the day, March 4th.
From CNBC, March 3/4:
South Korea’s Kospi plunged over 12% Wednesday, putting it on track for its worst day in decades. The South Korean market had been on a tear last year, soaring more than 75%, and extending gains into the new year as well. South Korea’s Kospi plunged over 12% Wednesday, before paring some losses, and extending a steep sell-off from the previous session amid an escalating war in the Middle East.
The Korea Exchange temporarily halted trading for the Kospi index on Wednesday. A circuit breaker was activated on the Kosdaq as well, which fell about 13%.
The Kospi index was last down about 8%, with heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics fell more than 6% and over 9%, respectively.
The South Korean market had been on a tear last year, soaring more than 75%, and extending gains into the new year as well, with the Kospi hitting fresh highs on the back of semiconductor heavyweights that have seen their shares surge on strong memory chip demand.
“The decline in the KOSPI can broadly be attributable to the single-name concentration that we see in the Korean markets,” said Lorraine Tan, Asia director of equity research at Morningstar.
According to Morningstar data, memory leaders Samsung and SK Hynix constitute almost 50% of the index.
“We believe that the drop in share prices is partly driven by profit taking after a strong runup amidst a risk-off environment but also implies growing concern that the AI datacenter adoption pace might slow due to its significantly higher energy costs than regular data centers,” Tan said....
....MUCH MORE
Earlier:
