The KOSPI plunged 8.10% to 6,208.34 on Tuesday morning, deepening a global semiconductor rout.
SK Hynix’s stock price fell by 11.01%, and Samsung Electronics dropped 9.45% as investors awaited SK Hynix’s earnings report for the last quarter.
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Chip Selloff Spreads From Wall Street to Seoul
Trading was briefly halted on the Korea Exchange and the Kosdaq index today after significant selling pressure. This is the 22nd time this year the Korea Exchange has used this type of emergency measure. At the time of reporting, the Kosdaq index had fallen 6.6%.
Japanese stocks fell after similar declines in Seoul. Kioxia saw a significant drop of 16.5%, while Tokyo Electron lost more than 9% and Advantest decreased by 8%.
As a researcher tracking market trends, I observed a significant downturn today. SoftBank Group, which I view as a key player in the AI space through its ownership of Arm, experienced a nearly 5% drop. Looking at the broader Japanese market, the Nikkei 225 fell by 3.90%, and the Topix index decreased by 2.49%.
Chip stocks continued to fall sharply on Monday, building on previous losses. According to CNBC, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF dropped more than 2%. AMD and Teradyne saw the biggest declines, with their stock prices falling by 5% and 4% respectively.
Investors are still unsure about the large amounts of money tech companies are spending on artificial intelligence. This drop in stock prices follows recent announcements of $950 billion in AI deals from SK Hynix and Samsung.
Earnings Gauntlet Meets Crypto Spillover
The next few days will be critical for tech companies. SK Hynix will announce its first financial results since going public on Nasdaq on Wednesday, July 29th – the same day Microsoft, Meta, and the Federal Reserve also share their news. Apple and Amazon will finish out a busy week for Big Tech with their reports on Thursday.
Crypto markets are feeling the pressure, with Bitcoin currently trading around $63,199 – a decrease of 2.9% in the last 24 hours. US stock market futures are also down, suggesting further declines, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow all showing slight losses.
How investors react to SK Hynix’s earnings report on Wednesday will likely determine the market’s direction for the rest of the week. The results will either reassure people or strengthen their concerns about recent market trends.
2026-07-28 05:17