South Korea's stock market slumped again in Wednesday's trading (29/7/2026). The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down significantly by 360.42 points, or 5.98 percent, to the 5,663.24 level, extending a corrective trend driven by the sell-off in the technology sector.
At the start of trading, the KOSPI index had actually strengthened to touch a daily high of 6,228.52 after opening at the 6,089.11 level. However, market panic quickly triggered massive selling that dragged the index down to a low of 5,262.77, before finally staging a minor rebound ahead of the market close with trading volume reaching 449.29 million shares.
The main negative sentiment was triggered by quarterly earnings reports from two semiconductor giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which fell below market expectations. This failure to meet targets raised new concerns among investors regarding the prospects and efficiency of capital expenditure for artificial intelligence infrastructure (AI capex) globally.
Pressure on the trading floor was further exacerbated by a liquidity crisis due to panic withdrawals. This condition triggered the forced unwinding of positions in retail investor margin accounts and high-leverage ETF instruments. On the other hand, the rise in world crude oil prices also heightened global inflation concerns, dampening investment interest in risky assets across the Asian region.
