Japan, South Korea Stocks Slump in Early Trading; Kospi Drops Over 4%, Nikkei 225 Falls Nearly 2%, Kioxia Tumbles Almost 10%

TradingKey - On October 13, Japanese and South Korean stock markets weakened in early trading, with South Korean stocks extending losses further. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened down 3.10% at 6,186.08 points, with losses subsequently widening to 4.37% at 6,105.50 points; Japan's Nikkei 225 Index (N225) opened 0.68% lower at 68,564.85 points, with losses later expanding to 1.86% at 67,745.61 points.

Source: TradingView

South Korean semiconductor leaders were under clear pressure. Samsung Electronics fell 4.59% to 239,000 won (about $1,723); SK Hynix dropped 5.05% to 1.524 million won. Japanese tech stocks also suffered significant declines, with SoftBank Group falling 6.79% to 5,409 yen (about $34) and Kioxia tumbling 9.71% to 15,805 yen.

Overnight, major U.S. stock indices closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.38% to 51,850.55 points, the S&P 500 Index slipping 0.06% to 7,807.24 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index falling 0.44% to 27,245.90 points. Among them, the semiconductor sector was one of the market's weakest performers, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling 2.7% to a three-week low.

A concentrated pullback in the memory chip sector was a key drag on tech stocks. Cao Kanyu, president of Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), recently disclosed that the company has made significant progress in its next-generation 4F² memory cell architecture and plans to launch server memory products based on this technology by the end of 2026. This development intensified market concerns over shifts in the memory chip competitive landscape, leading investors to reevaluate the competitive pressure facing South Korean memory chip giants in the future.

U.S. memory and related hardware companies fell broadly, with Micron Technology (MU) dropping below the $1,000 mark to close down about 4%; SanDisk (SNDK) fell nearly 6%, while SK Hynix ADR (SKHY) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI) both dropped more than 4%. In addition, Seagate Technology (STX) fell over 3%, Quantum (QMCO) plunged over 9%, and Corning (GLW) also moved significantly lower.