Korea’s KOSDAQ surged 6.97%, fast enough to trip a buy-side sidecar curb, as money rotated out of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix into biotech, construction and battery names. The KOSPI added 0.65% to hold near 6,300.
The KOSPI opened more than 1% higher and touched 6,415 before closing down 0.60% at 6,258.77 as foreign investors turned sellers. Battery, defense and bank stocks rallied in intraday trading while semiconductors stayed weak ahead of US July payrolls.
Korea’s KOSPI fell 4.58% as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix tracked the Nasdaq’s AI-spending scare, triggering a sell-side sidecar. KOSDAQ closed higher on a biotech rotation, and retail investors bought the dip against heavy foreign selling.
A day after a 5.12% plunge, the KOSPI swung from +1.8% to -2.7% intraday before stabilizing near 6,228 by late morning, as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix steadied. The KOSDAQ was up nearly 5% by late morning, triggering its third consecutive buy-side sidecar as money rotated into biotech, robotics and batteries. Figures for August 4 are an intraday snapshot, not final closes.
The KOSPI surged 17.91% to 6,595.45 — its biggest one-day gain on record — as strong US tech earnings eased AI profitability fears and foreign investors piled back in after a brutal two-week selloff capped by back-to-back circuit breakers.
The KOSPI fell 1.23% to 5,593.56 for a third straight loss as a morning push toward 6,000 collapsed under semiconductor profit-taking. SK hynix sank 5.6% while batteries and banks rallied, and foreign investors returned as net buyers on the main board.
The KOSPI fell 10.84% to 6,023.66 and briefly broke below 6,000 as China semiconductor fears hammered Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Both exchanges halted trading with sidecars and circuit breakers while foreign investors dumped roughly $3.4 billion of Korean stocks.
One company accounts for roughly a fifth of Korea’s benchmark index. Here is how KOSPI’s cap-weighted methodology turns Samsung Electronics and the memory-chip cycle into the index itself – and what that means for anyone tracking or buying Korean equities.
The KOSPI fell 5.72% and the KOSDAQ 5.32% as new US tariffs, oil above $100 and an overnight Wall Street slide hit at once, triggering sell sidecars. Foreigners dumped roughly $2.2B of KOSPI shares while Samsung Biologics jumped 10% on record earnings.
The KOSPI fell 6.37% to 6,820.60 as SK hynix dropped 11.5% and Samsung Electronics 8.8%, extending a July that has already seen six sessions with moves larger than 5% — on a day that also brought a Bank of Korea rate decision.