Kospi drops more than 5%, triggering sell-side sidecar on July 16
South Korean stocks slid into a bear market as semiconductor shares tumbled on renewed doubts about AI infrastructure spending, prompting the Korea Exchange to halt program sell orders for five minutes.
South Korea’s Korea Exchange triggered a sell-side sidecar in the Kospi market at 9:10:26 a.m. on July 16 after the nearest Kospi 200 futures contract fell 5.22% to 1,104.40 and held that decline for one minute, suspending program sell orders for five minutes. The Kospi fell more than 5% in early trading, with one report saying losses briefly exceeded 7%, as the chip-heavy market slid into a bear market, defined as a drop of at least 20% from a recent high. SK Hynix fell as much as 10.04% in one report and 9.94% in another, while Samsung Electronics fell 7.51% in one report and 7.16% in another, amid concern over AI infrastructure spending and weakness in U.S. semiconductor shares.
- sell-side sidecar: A five-minute curb on program sell orders when exchange decline thresholds are breached.
- Kospi 200 futures: Futures contracts linked to the Kospi 200 index, used for hedging and trading.
- bear market: A decline of at least 20% from a recent high.