South Korea Holds Emergency Meeting as 864 Trillion Won Leaves Its Stock Market

South Korea convened an emergency market meeting on the evening of July 29. This came as the KOSPI shed 864.5 trillion won in value across two trading sessions.

On Wednesday, the index closed at 5,663.24, down 5.98%, and triggered a market-wide circuit breaker for a second straight day. 

South Korea’s Financial Authorities Meet Amid KOSPI’s Slide

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol is hosting the session, which started at 6 pm local time, Bloomberg reported. Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song joined him. FSC Chairman Lee Eog-weon and Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin also took part, according to media reports.

Lawmakers had questioned senior officials repeatedly in parliament on July 29. They traced part of the selloff to the single-stock leveraged products launched in May.

Lawmakers argued the ETFs had magnified those price swings. They said speculative trading had concentrated in a small group of blue-chip stocks, which left Korean equities far more volatile than global peers.

Koo apologized at one hearing and conceded the products warranted closer study before launch. He still described them as one cause among several.

“We’ve already put in place a package of measures, but if it’s needed we’ll introduce additional steps to help normalise the market,” he said.

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SK Hynix Missed Estimates Despite a Record Quarter

The meeting followed a turbulent stretch for Korean equities. The KOSPI has dropped 32.54%, or 2,731.41 points, over the past month.

Over the two sessions alone, the index lost 1,092.51 points. Market value fell 600.33 trillion won on July 28 and 264.20 trillion won on July 29.

Korea Exchange halted trading in both markets on each day. It is the first time circuit breakers have hit both on consecutive sessions.

The July 29 decline came as SK Hynix missed analyst expectations despite record quarterly performance. Second-quarter revenue of 79.3 trillion won missed LSEG SmartEstimates of 84 trillion won. 

Operating profit of 60.54 trillion won also trailed the 64 trillion won forecast. The stock closed at 1,401,000 won, down 9.61%. Revenue still grew 257% year over year. 

Meanwhile, another index heavyweight, Samsung Electronics, finished at 208,500 won, down 5.23%. Over the past month, Samsung has lost 35.45%, and SK Hynix has fallen 46.69%.

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