South Korean stocks plunged more than 6% on Friday, despite briefly breaking through the historic 8,000-point mark in early trading. Investors sold off technology and other heavyweight stocks following a record-breaking rally, while uncertainty stemming from Middle East tensions persisted.
The benchmark KOSPI index fell 488.23 points, or 6.12%, to close at 7,493.18, after reaching an intraday high of 8,046.78.
The index opened slightly lower but soon began to climb, quickly surpassing the 8,000-point threshold. This initial surge was primarily fueled by gains on Wall Street overnight, which were driven by a sharp rise in artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks and geopolitical optimism.
However, shortly after this achievement, the KOSPI began a steep decline, dropping to as low as 7,371.68 and triggering a sidecar circuit breaker around 1:28 p.m. local time. This was the first time the main exchange operator had issued a selling-side circuit breaker since April 2.
Trading volume was exceptionally heavy, reaching 878.7 million shares with a value of 57.8 trillion won ($38.5 billion). Declining stocks far outnumbered advancers, with a ratio of 704 to 165.
Analysts noted the index faced heavy selling pressure as investors, particularly foreign investors, took profits on large semiconductor and technology stocks. These stocks, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, had been major drivers of the KOSPI's recent gains.
Foreign investors sold a net 5.6 trillion won worth of Korean stocks on Friday, marking their seventh consecutive session of net selling. Institutional investors sold a net 1.7 trillion won, while retail investors were net buyers of 7.2 trillion won.
Among individual stocks, market leader Samsung Electronics saw its shares plummet 8.61% to 270,500 won. This decline came despite management's proposal for unconditional talks, as the company's union threatened to proceed with a large-scale strike planned for next week.
SK Hynix shares fell 7.66% to 1.82 million won.
AI investment firm SK Square plunged 6.23% to 1.1 million won, while trading firm Samsung C&T tumbled 10.29% to 396,500 won.
Doosan Enerbility dropped 5.38% to 110,800 won, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace declined 6.89% to 1.2 million won.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution fell 5.66% to 417,000 won.
Electrical and automotive stocks also declined. Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell 1.37% to 1.01 million won, and HD Hyundai Electric dropped 6.95% to 1.18 million won.
Hyundai Motor shares decreased 1.69% to 700,000 won, and Kia Corp. fell 5.67% to 168,000 won.
LG Electronics was one of the few gainers, surging 10.83% to 240,500 won, boosted by positive expectations for its robotics business. Doosan Robotics also rose 19.29% to 127,400 won.
As of 3:30 p.m. local time, the won was trading at 1,500.8 per U.S. dollar, down 9.8 won from the previous session and marking its weakest level in over a month.
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