Kospi Drops Below 7,000, Nikkei Slumps 1.7%; Kioxia, Samsung and SK Hynix Retreat From Highs as SoftBank Surges Over 5%

TradingKey - Soaring Oil Prices Trigger Market Dive; KOSPI Surges then Reverses to Lose 7,000; Nikkei Tumbles 1.7%, Kioxia Drops Over 3%, SoftBank Surges 5% Against Trend.

During Asian trading hours on September 8, stock markets in Japan and South Korea both surged before pulling back, giving up their intraday gains completely. Among them, the KOSPI jumped over 2% in morning trade, boosted by the semiconductor sector, and broke above 7,000 points; however, gains narrowed sharply late in the session, relinquishing the key level to close down 0.58% at 6,954.52. The two major heavyweight stocks also surged before pulling back but ultimately closed mixed, with Samsung Electronics falling 0.19% to 269,500 KRW, while SK Hynix rose 0.5% to 1,792,000 KRW.

KOSPI Index Chart, Source: TradingView

The Nikkei 225 Index opened lower and surged to 66,791 points intraday before profit-taking pressure emerged late in the session, ultimately closing down 1.7% and losing the 66,000 mark to settle at 65,269.33. The two major heavyweights diverged: Kioxia slumped 3.56% to close at 57,410 JPY, while SoftBank bucked the trend to gain 5.45%, closing at 6,556 JPY.

Ongoing US-Iran tensions drove up oil prices, with Brent crude (UKOIL) breaking above $97/barrel and WTI crude (USOIL) approaching $93. Unresolved market fears over secondary inflation triggered by rising energy costs dampened the appetite to chase gains in the afternoon. Investors turned cautious ahead of key macroeconomic data releases, reluctant to blindly chase high levels while awaiting the upcoming US inflation data (CPI/PPI) and the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.