Kospi Plummets to Trigger Circuit Breaker, SK Hynix Plunges 14%, Samsung Electronics Drops 10%

TradingKey - KOSPI plummets 8% triggering circuit breakers, SK Hynix plunges 13%, sparking tech stock stampede.

On July 13, Asian time, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) saw its afternoon losses rapidly widen to 8.07%, plunging over 600 points to break straight through the key 7,000-point psychological level, hitting an intraday low of around 6,880 points to set a new two-month low.

KOSPI Index Chart, Source: TradingView

Despite surging in its US ADR listing debut last Friday, it encountered a historic capital liquidation upon returning to the local Seoul market today, with its stock price plunging over 14% to trade at 1,876,000 KRW, hitting June 8 levels and becoming the eye of the storm leading the broader market crash. As South Korea's largest heavyweight stock, Samsung Electronics was also not spared today, with intraday losses exceeding 10% to trade at 255,500 KRW, hitting its May 6 low.

The simultaneous plunges of the two chip giants directly cut off the lifeline of the KOSPI index. At around 1:28 PM Seoul time today, the Korea Exchange officially triggered a market-wide circuit breaker, suspending all market trading for 20 minutes. This marks the seventh circuit breaker triggered in the South Korean stock market in 2026, causing the market fear index to spike instantly.

Over the weekend, a new round of direct military conflict broke out between the United States and Iran around the Strait of Hormuz. The sudden escalation of tensions in the Middle East directly triggered collective panic across global risk assets. South Korean stocks opened lower and slid further on Monday, with losses widening in the afternoon, indicating that foreign and institutional capital is pulling out of the highly export-dependent South Korean semiconductor sector at all costs.