South Korea's Kospi Index Sinks Over 7% Amid Tech Sell-Off

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index sank more than 7% in early trading on Thursday, reaching 5,584.83, according to YahooStocks0. The sharp decline followed a broader sell-of in global technology shares triggered by hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data and subsequent losses on Wall Street.

Regional Market Impact

Major South Korean tech shares sustained steep losses during the session. Samsung Electronics slid 8.2%, while memory chipmaker SK Hynix plunged 10.8%. Across regional markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.9% to 65,119.51. OpenAI investor SoftBank Group tumbled 9.1% and chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron dropped 6.3%.

These Asian market movements followed a downturn on Wall Street where the S&P 500 dropped 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1%, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 1.9% amid falling artificial intelligence-related stocks. Nvidia lost 3.2%, Broadcom gave up 3.1%, and Advanced Micro Devices declined 5.7%.

The equity declines were catalyzed by U.S. consumer price index data released Wednesday, which showed inflation rising 3.7% year-on-year in September, up from 3.4% in August and exceeding economist expectations.

Key facts

• South Korea's Kospi index sank more than 7% in early trading to 5,584.83.
• Samsung Electronics slid 8.2% and SK Hynix plunged 10.8%.
• Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.9% to 65,119.51.
• U.S. consumer price index rose 3.7% year-on-year in September, exceeding August's 3.4% rate.