Kospi Falls 6% as SK Hynix Results Disappoint
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- Kospi Index closed down 6% on July 29 after sliding as much as 13% in the morning — a move that triggered a circuit breaker for the second straight day.
- SK Hynix reported disappointing quarterly results, worsening already-jittery sentiment around the artificial intelligence buildout.
- The Kospi's two-day decline exceeded 16%, pushing the benchmark's monthly loss to a record 33%.
- South Korean retail investors voiced despair and frustration as the selloff accelerated for a second consecutive session.
- The rout reflects mounting doubts about the AI infrastructure spending cycle that had driven Korean chip stocks to recent highs.
Why it matters: The Kospi's record 33% monthly drop, triggered by SK Hynix's earnings miss and punctuated by two consecutive circuit-breaker halts, is landing hardest on Korean retail investors — the group publicly expressing despair — with losses concentrated in AI-linked chip names rather than spread economy-wide.
