Japan, South Korea Stocks Close Lower; Kospi Tumbles 3.73%, SK Hynix Drops Over 4%, SoftBank Slumps Over 6%

TradingKey - On October 20, Japanese and South Korean stock markets closed lower across the board, with South Korean stocks suffering a more pronounced drop. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.30% to close at 64,075.37 points, while South Korea's KOSPI Index dropped sharply by 3.73% to 5,552.75 points, briefly dipping below the 5,500-point mark intraday.

Source: TradingView

South Korean semiconductor leaders remained under pressure, with Samsung Electronics falling 2.98% to 211,500 won (approximately $159) and SK Hynix dropping 4.23% to 1.223 million won. In the Japanese market, Kioxia fell 3.38% to 13,140 yen (approximately $83), while SoftBank Group slid 6.01% to 4,554 yen.

On the news front, SK Hynix recently announced that it will join forces with the South Korean government and major banks to provide financing support for local semiconductor suppliers, aiming to enhance the stability of the domestic chip supply chain. Under the plan, SK Hynix and four major banks will jointly contribute 100 billion won to support the arrangement, while the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE) will provide up to 2 trillion won in loan guarantees, covering companies involved in semiconductor materials, components, and equipment.

Looking ahead, the market will focus on earnings from major tech companies such as SpaceX (SPCX), Tesla (TSLA), and Meta (META). As investors reassess the scale and returns of AI infrastructure investments, the financial performance and capital expenditure plans of tech giants will serve as a key basis for determining whether the AI trade can stabilize, and may also influence the future trajectory of Japanese and South Korean semiconductor and tech stocks.