South Korea’s stock market took a dramatic turn on Friday as the Kospi index plunged more than 6%, wiping out earlier gains that had pushed it to a record high. The sudden reversal was driven largely by a sharp sell-off in heavyweight technology stocks, dragging the broader market down alongside weakness across the Asia-Pacific region.
The benchmark Kospi closed at 7,493.18, after briefly breaking above the 8,000 level earlier in the trading session. The smaller Kosdaq index also felt the pressure, falling more than 5% to end at 1,129.82, signaling widespread investor caution after weeks of strong momentum in Korean equities.
A major factor behind the decline was heavy selling in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for a significant share of the Kospi’s value. Samsung dropped 8.6% following renewed labor tensions, including a planned 18-day strike involving tens of thousands of workers, while SK Hynix slid 7.6% amid broader concerns about the sustainability of the AI-driven tech rally.
The weakness was not limited to South Korea. Markets across Asia also retreated as investors monitored high-stakes diplomatic discussions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Xi’s warning that mishandling Taiwan tensions could lead to “clashes and even conflicts” added to geopolitical uncertainty, weighing on investor sentiment across the region.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and mainland China’s CSI 300 all closed lower, while Australia’s ASX 200 edged slightly down. Even global commodities were not spared, with gold and silver prices falling sharply. Meanwhile, U.S. markets showed resilience, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq closing at fresh record highs following strong corporate earnings, highlighting a growing divide between Wall Street optimism and Asia-Pacific volatility.