The South Korean stock market experienced a sharp decline, primarily driven by heavy selling in major semiconductor stocks. The KOSPI index fell below the 7000 mark due to simultaneous net selling by foreign and institutional investors, leading to a significant drop in investor sentiment.
On July 13, the Korea Exchange reported that the KOSPI closed at 6806.93, down 669.01 points (8.95%) from the previous trading day. A sell-side circuit breaker was triggered at 10:34 a.m., followed by a trading halt for 20 minutes after a circuit breaker was activated again at 1:28 p.m.
In the securities market, individual investors made net purchases of 3.88 trillion won, taking advantage of lower prices. However, foreign and institutional investors led the decline with net sales of 1.72 trillion won and 2.20 trillion won, respectively.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, semiconductor companies were particularly affected. Samsung Electronics fell 10.70%, SK Hynix dropped 15.37%, SK Square decreased by 17.60%, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell 18.62%. Other notable declines included Hyundai Motor (-2.95%), Samsung Life (-4.26%), and Samsung C&T (-7.79%). Conversely, LG Energy Solution (0.77%), KB Financial (0.98%), and Samsung Biologics (0.36%) saw gains.
The KOSDAQ index also fell below 800, closing at 799.36, down 38.07 points (4.55%). While institutions and individuals made net purchases of 212.1 billion won and 173.1 billion won, respectively, foreign investors sold off 386.8 billion won.
Most of the top KOSDAQ stocks showed weakness, with declines including Alteogen (-2.31%), EcoPro BM (-1.48%), EcoPro (-2.56%), Juseong Engineering (-4.90%), Rainbow Robotics (-8.49%), Kolon TissueGene (-14.89%), Wonik IPS (-0.16%), Rino Technology (-2.03%), PSK (-2.53%), and EoTechnics (-5.02%).
Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, noted, "The domestic stock market is structurally limited as the semiconductor sector accounts for nearly 60% of the KOSPI. When semiconductors falter, the entire index tends to follow suit. Additionally, the entanglement of supply and demand related to leveraged products is contributing to increased volatility."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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