South Korea shares tumble over 6% as chip selloff triggers trading curb

SEOUL: South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index plunged over 6% on Tuesday, triggering a temporary trading curb, after US memory-chip maker Micron Technology fell overnight on reports of rapid tech advances by Chinese rival ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT).

The Korea Exchange halted programme sell orders for five minutes at 9:47 a.m. local time after the KOSPI 200 futures index fell 5.08%, or 51.20 points, to 955.02.

The KOSPI index was down 382.18 points, or 5.93%, at 6,002.06 as of 0213 GMT.

A fifth straight day of losses would mark the index’s longest losing streak since September 2024.

Investor sentiment was hit by rising concerns that Chinese semiconductor makers are narrowing the technology gap with global rivals, pressuring South Korea’s tech-heavy market, said Kang Jin-hyuk, an analyst at Shinhan Investment & Securities.

“(The KOSPI) lost the 6,000-point mark as sentiment in memory chips deteriorated due to warnings from semiconductor CEOs and rapid progress by CXMT,” Kang said in a note. Chipmaker Samsung Electronics fell 7.19%, while peer SK Hynix lost 8.72%.

Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 4.15%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 5.78% and 3.52%, respectively.

Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 4.85%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics fell 1.00%. Of the total 915 traded issues, 66 shares advanced, while 832 declined.

Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 2,065.3 billion won.

The won was quoted at 1,338.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.22% lower than its previous close at 1,335.8.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 4.8 basis points to 3.874%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 6.9 basis points to 4.250%.