By Kwanwoo Jun
South Korea's Kospi briefly topped the 8000 mark for the first time on Friday before falling sharply as investors locked in gains after a recent rally.
The benchmark failed to hold above the milestone, suggesting investor caution after a blistering tech-driven rally recently. Although the index appears set to snap a two-session winning streak, the Kospi is still up around 80% this year.
The Kospi was last down 7.1% at 7413.24 in afternoon trading, sharply reversing course after touching a record intraday high of 8046.78 earlier Friday.
The stock-market regulator briefly halted trading to reduce volatility after Kospi 200 futures fell more than 5%.
Among the top decliners were index heavyweight semiconductor companies Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, key drivers of the Kopsi's rally this year.
Shares in Samsung, the world's top memory-chip maker, fell more than 9% in afternoon trading, set to snap a two-session winning streak. Nvidia supplier SK Hynix lost more than 8%.
Labor unrest weighed on Samsung and prompted traders to book profit after recent gains.
Samsung's talks with its labor union earlier this week failed to reach an agreement over how to distribute its massive profits amid the artificial-intelligence boom. Unionized workers want the company to allocate 15% of its operating profit to employee bonuses or face a strike from May 21 to June 7.
The company on Friday renewed its call for union leaders to resume talks to avert the industrial action.
NH Investment & Securities analyst Na Jeong-hwan said Friday that Samsung's labor dispute is likely to become a major downside risk for the Kospi next week.
"Higher labor costs from a potential agreement and production disruptions from a strike could both weigh on Samsung Electronics' earnings," Na said.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 15, 2026 02:03 ET (06:03 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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