Tech rout triggers trading halt for KOSPI stocks for 20 minutes

Korea's bourse operator activated a circuit breaker for the benchmark KOSPI on Thursday following an extended sell-off in technology shares. The Korea Times reported that trading was halted for 20 minutes starting at 12:38 p.m. after the index plunged more than 8 percent from the previous session's close. This marked the ninth time the KRX has activated a circuit breaker this year.

Investing.com reported the KOSPI plunged 7.2%, noting that South Korean memory-chip makers were heavily impacted, with SK Hynix falling 11.2% and Samsung Electronics dropping 9.4%. The sell-off was driven by skepticism regarding the sustainability of the artificial intelligence trade, concerns over Chinese competition, and hotter-than-expected inflation data in the United States which raised expectations for further Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The downturn in South Korean stocks occurred alongside broader losses in Asian markets. Investing.com noted that Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 4.7%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, China’s CSI 300, and the Shanghai Composite also fell.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times, The Korea Times, Investing.com, Winnipeg Free Press — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.