South Korea's KOSPI index fell 5.8% amid a sell-off of chipmaker stocks
On August 19, South Korea’s KOSPI stock index fell by 398.66 points, or 5.8%, and closed at 6,471.17 points. During the session, the index dropped as low as 6,400.81 points. The decline was led by chipmakers amid rising oil prices and global bond yields, according to the Korea Herald.
Shortly after the market opened, the exchange operator suspended algorithmic trading of KOSPI-listed stocks for five minutes. This was triggered by the sell-side sidecar mechanism, which is activated when the KOSPI 200 futures index drops by at least 5% within one minute.
Trading volume totaled 302.07 million shares worth 22.94 trillion won, or about $16.4 billion. The number of stocks that fell exceeded the number that rose—700 versus 171. Foreign investors sold a net 348.8 billion won worth of shares, institutional investors sold a net 132.4 billion won worth, while retail investors bought a net 463.6 billion won worth of shares.
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Samsung Electronics shares fell 7.82% and closed at 247,500 won. SK hynix shares dropped 9.75% to 1.5 million won. Shares of SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, fell 11.54%, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics shares fell 3.68%.
Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyung-min stated that foreign and institutional investors were selling shares of local semiconductor manufacturers, particularly Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, due to renewed concerns about their prospects amid rising bond yields. Meanwhile, Hanwha Aerospace shares rose 2.71% following the announcement that the company’s U.S. subsidiary had secured a contract to supply prototypes of the K9 self-propelled howitzer to the U.S. Army.
As of 3:30 p.m., the South Korean won was trading at 1,397.7 won per U.S. dollar, up 14.1 won from the close of the previous trading session.
