Japan and South Korea Stocks Plunge as Kospi Drops Over 6% to Trigger Circuit Breaker; Kioxia Falls Over 10%, SK Hynix Over 9%, Samsung Over 7%
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On August 19, Japanese and South Korean stock markets declined sharply in early trading, driven by a weak overnight U.S. market and waning risk appetite for technology stocks. South Korea's KOSPI index tumbled 6.39%, triggering a Sidecar mechanism, while Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.82%. Semiconductor and memory chip sectors led the losses across both regions, with major firms like SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, Kioxia, and SoftBank experiencing heavy selling pressure following significant drops in U.S. tech counterparts such as Micron Technology and Western Digital.
TradingKey - On August 19, Japanese and South Korean stock markets weakened in tandem in early trading. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened down 5% at 6,528.77 points, before losses widened to 6.39%, last standing at 6,430.93 points. Meanwhile, the Korea Exchange activated a Sidecar mechanism to suspend program sell orders for the KOSPI. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index (JPN225) also opened lower and continued to decline, with its drop expanding to 2.82% at 65,558.27 points.
Source: TradingView
South Korea's semiconductor sector was the main drag on the broader market. SK Hynix fell 9.03% to 1,512,000 won (about $1,073), while Samsung Electronics dropped 7.26% to 249,000 won.
Japanese tech stocks also faced noticeable selling pressure, with Kioxia tumbling 10.32% to 51,250 yen (about $321) and SoftBank Group dropping 6.17% to 5,470 yen, putting heavy-weight tech stocks in Japan and South Korea under broad pressure.
The weak performance in Asian markets was impacted by a sharp overnight drop in U.S. stocks. The three major U.S. stock indices fell for a third consecutive trading day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.22% to close at 53,343.40 points, the S&P 500 Index sliding 0.69% to 7,691.76 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index tumbling 1.33% to close at 26,289.71 points, as overall risk appetite for tech stocks cooled noticeably.
The memory chip sector saw particularly prominent declines, becoming the hardest-hit area of the overnight U.S. market sell-off. SK Hynix (SKHY), Seagate Technology (STX), and SanDisk (SNDK) all fell by over 9%, while Micron Technology (MU) and Western Digital (WDC) also dropped over 7%.
This content was translated using AI and reviewed for clarity. It is for informational purposes only.
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