Kospi, the benchmark index for the South Korean stock market, tumbled again on Friday after a week of volatility, as AI chip stocks that had made the index one of the world's best-performing markets this year dragged it down.
Heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for more than half of Kospi's market cap, fell around 9% each on Friday, forcing the exchange to trigger circuit breakers and halt trading for roughly 20 minutes. This came after an eventful week for the index, which had already plunged nearly 10% on Tuesday, before rebounding 3.26% on Wednesday as investors returned to semicon stocks, according to reports.
