KOSPI halts trading in eighth circuit breaker for 2026

The South Korean KOSPI index had its eighth circuit breaker for 2026, after another 8% loss. The index is closely watched for signals on the AI and semiconductor trades. 

The South Korean KOSPI index hit another circuit breaker for the eighth time this year. The index broke down along with other markets. KOSPI extended this year’s crash, coinciding with market-wide weakness. 

KOSPI erased 520B Korean won, or around 360B US dollars. Additionally, some of the South Korean stock positions were used as collateral, leading to more potential losses as leverage unravels. During the market crash of July 9, some considered the drop a final move for KOSPI, but the index continued to slide, dropping by over 20% in the past weeks.

Additionally, the SK Hynix index is down 50% from its June high, due to weakness in the memory stocks sector. Multiple memory producers fell after the Changxin Memory Technology (CMXT) IPO on Monday. 

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