Trading in South Korea’s benchmark index was halted after a steep intraday selloff, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropping about 9% and foreign investors selling 2.5 trillion won of shares.
South Korea’s KOSPI fell more than 8% intraday on Friday, wiping out the previous session’s gains and triggering a circuit breaker that temporarily halted trading. The selloff hit major chipmakers hard, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each down about 9%, while foreign investors sold 2.5 trillion won ($1.6 billion) of KOSPI shares in morning trade as sentiment toward AI-related chip stocks weakened.