Breaking

Korea's KOSPI Slides as Samsung, SK Hynix Drop Over 10%

June 25, 2026 at 23:28 EDT

Infra & Chips
Finance

On June 26, South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index fell as much as 9% at one point, triggering a 20-minute trading halt under the circuit-breaker rule. Renewed selling in chipmakers led the decline, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each dropping more than 10% intraday, underscoring the market's heightened sensitivity to swings in AI-related sentiment.

June 26, 2026 · Seoul Markets

Korea's KOSPI Tumbles as AI Chip Selloff Hits Samsung and SK Hynix

The benchmark fell as much as 6.3% with both memory giants down more than 7% — a fresh shock days after a 10% plunge triggered the year's fourth circuit breaker, exposing how tightly Korea's market is bound to global AI sentiment.

-6.3%

KOSPI intraday drop, June 26

~50%

of KOSPI cap = Samsung + SK Hynix

$1.6B

Net foreign selling, morning session

4th

Circuit breaker this year (June 23)

Three Days of Whiplash

Samsung & SK Hynix daily move (each stock, %)

-12%+

▼

June 23

circuit breaker

+10% / +5%

▲

June 24

bargain hunting

-7%+

▼

June 26

trading halted

Why It Snapped

A crowded, leveraged bet on two AI-memory stocks unwound all at once.

Valuation reset

Both stocks more than doubled YTD, joining the $1T cap club by May.

Leveraged retail

Savings cashed out for one-way bets; ETF inflows amplified the swings.

Foreign exit

Net selling for consecutive days plus a cautious U.S. rate outlook.

Short-term · Technical

An unwind of a crowded trade. Heavy retail leverage and ETF flows magnified the drop, with multiple circuit breakers already in 2026.

Medium-term · Demand

Analysts stay bullish on HBM. SK Hynix beat Samsung on 2025 profit; both plan to sharply expand HBM capacity in 2026.

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