KOSPI slides nearly 6% amid profit-taking in chips
KOSPI tumbled nearly 6 percent on Friday, as the index came under pressure from profit-taking after recent gains, in addition to a sharp overnight decline in U.S. equities. The benchmark index opened down 117.12 points, or 1.31 percent, at 8,813.18 and swung between gains and losses before closing at 8,411.21, down 519.09 points, or 5.81 percent, from the previous session. Heavy losses in large-cap technology stocks amplified the decline, with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix falling 5.29 percent and 8.36 percent, respectively. As selling intensified, pushing KOSPI down more than 8 percent from the previous day’s close for one minute, the Korea Exchange imposed a circuit breaker at 12:10 p.m., halting trading on the main board for 20 minutes. Earlier, a sidecar was triggered at around 11:12 a.m. after KOSPI 200 futures fell more than 5 percent, briefly curbing program-driven selling. The KOSPI circuit breaker was triggered for the fifth time this year, with nearly half of all 11 activations since the mechanism was introduced now occurring this year. In a rare sequence, the safeguard was
