KOSPI Falls Below 6,000 as Foreign Selling Triggers 6.55% Slump

South Korea’s KOSPI fell more than 6% and dropped below the 6,000 mark as heavy foreign selling battered the market.

As of 10:43 a.m. on October 13, the KOSPI stood at 5,966.15, down 392.30 points, or 6.55%, from the previous session. The benchmark deepened losses from the open and continued to slide after breaking below 6,000.

Heavy foreign selling pressured the market. Foreign investors were net sellers of 1.9823 trillion won on the KOSPI market in the first hour and a half of trading. They also posted net sales of 191.9 billion won in KOSPI 200 futures. Individuals and institutions were net buyers of 1.4271 trillion won and 518.5 billion won, respectively, but that was not enough to stem the decline.

Losses in major semiconductor stocks also widened. Samsung Electronics fell 7.09%, while SK Hynix plunged 9.10%. The drop came after Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, said it had made progress in DRAM technology development, fueling concerns over the competitiveness of South Korean chipmakers.

Market caution intensified after reports that CXMT plans to unveil a new server memory product using the technology later this year. Concerns that Chinese rivals’ technological catch-up could sharpen supply competition in the global memory-chip market appeared to damp sentiment toward semiconductor shares.

The Kosdaq market also weakened sharply. At the same time, the Kosdaq index traded at 809.40, down 39.79 points, or 4.69%, from the previous close. With both main indexes posting steep losses, selling pressure spread across the broader South Korean stock market.