Japan, South Korea Stocks Weaken; Kospi Falls 2%, Nikkei 225 Drops Over 1%, SK Hynix Down Over 5% and Kioxia Slumps 10%

TradingKey - On August 6, Japanese and South Korean stock markets opened lower across the board. Under the influence of an overnight correction in the US semiconductor sector, Asian chip stocks faced pressure, dragging down major stock indices in both markets.

The South Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened down 1.81% at 6,478.75 points, with losses later widening to 2% to trade at 6,465.55 points; Japan's Nikkei 225 Index also opened lower, with its decline subsequently expanding to 1.43% at 65,351.28 points.

Source: TradingView

South Korea's semiconductor sector led the broader market decline. SK Hynix fell 5.58% to 1,575,000 won (approx. $1,109); Samsung Electronics slid 1.63% to 242,000 won, as chip stocks that performed strongly in the previous trading session faced profit-taking.

Japanese tech stocks saw more pronounced declines, with Kioxia tumbling 9.93% to 48,910 yen (approx. $310); SoftBank Group fell 4.04% to 5,717 yen.

Overnight, the three major US stock indices closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.49% to close at 54,349.12 points; the S&P 500 Index slid 0.17%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.83%, as tech growth stocks broadly came under pressure.

The semiconductor and storage sectors broadly weakened, with Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD) falling over 7%, Western Digital ( WDC ), SanDisk ( SNDK) falling more than 5%, Qualcomm ( QCOM) dropping over 3%. Dragged down by the overnight correction in US chip stocks, the Japanese and South Korean semiconductor sectors simultaneously faced pressure in early trading.