South Korea’s KOSPI index plunged 8.3% on June 8, closing at 7,484.41, as investors dumped semiconductor stocks on fears that a blistering rally had run too far, too fast. The decline was severe enough to trigger market-wide circuit breakers, halting trading for 20 minutes.
It was the largest single-day fall since March 4 and the third time circuit breakers have been activated in 2026.
The chip sell-off at the center of it all
Samsung Electronics dropped 10.2% on the day. SK Hynix fell 7.7%.
Those two names essentially are the KOSPI. They account for the bulk of the index’s gains over the past year and briefly pushed their combined market capitalization near the $1 trillion mark during the rally’s peak.
