KOSPI Plunges Over 5% Early, Sell Sidecar Triggered Again (Update)

37th Sidecar Triggered This Year

U.S. Semiconductor Stock Slump Weighs on Market

As the KOSPI failed to maintain its upward momentum and sharply dropped, employees monitor the stock market and exchange rates in the dealing room at the Hana Bank Head Office in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 16th. On that day, the KOSPI opened at 6,960.50, down 323.91 points (4.45%) from the previous session, and the KOSDAQ index opened at 813.32, down 16.11 points (1.94%). July 14, 2026 Photo by Yongjun Cho

On July 16, both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices opened sharply lower. This is attributed to the sharp decline in semiconductor stocks in the U.S. stock market overnight.

On this day, the KOSPI started at 6,960.50, down 4.45% from the previous day. At 9:10:26 a.m., a sidecar (temporary halt of program sell orders) was triggered. The KOSPI sell-side sidecar is activated when the KOSPI 200 futures index falls by more than 5% for one minute. At that time, the KOSPI index was at 6,942.52, down 4.69% from the previous day. As of 9:34 a.m., the decline deepened and the index dropped to 6,892.90.

So far this year, a sidecar was triggered for buying or selling in the KOSPI market 37 times. The sell-side sidecar was triggered for the 19th time, with the most recent occurrence just two trading days prior, on July 14. The day before, the KOSPI surged, triggering a buy-side sidecar.

By investor type, foreigners and institutions recorded net sales of 746.8 billion won and 794.2 billion won, respectively. Individuals recorded a net purchase of 1.5 trillion won.

The majority of sectors declined. The electrical and electronics sector posted the largest drop at 7.95%, followed by manufacturing (-6.30%), medical precision instruments (-4.44%), machinery and equipment (-3.23%), securities (-3.19%), financial (-2.97%), distribution (-2.47%), and construction (-1.57%). In contrast, the telecommunications (up 3.62%), textiles and apparel (up 1.88%), and food, beverage, and tobacco (up 1.57%) sectors rose.

The top 10 KOSPI stocks by market capitalization also saw significant declines. SK Square dropped 12.2%, SK hynix fell 10.7%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics 9.9%, Samsung Electronics 7.6%, Samsung Life Insurance 2.8%, and Hyundai Motor 2.0%. On the other hand, LG Energy Solution rose 2.8%, KB Financial Group 0.6%, Kia 0.6%, and Samsung Biologics 0.1%.

The KOSDAQ index also opened at 813.32, down 1.94% from the previous day. As the morning progressed, the decline deepened, and as of 9:34 a.m., the index was at 804.06, down 3.06% from the previous day.

In the KOSDAQ market as well, foreigners and institutions recorded net sales of 136.8 billion won and 9.4 billion won, respectively. Individuals posted a net purchase of 143.0 billion won.

Again, most sectors declined. Notable drops were observed in machinery and equipment (-6.53%), non-metallic materials (-5.66%), electrical and electronics (-4.78%), manufacturing (-3.87%), distribution (-2.60%), and financial (-2.39%). However, publishing and media replication (up 3.85%) and textiles and apparel (up 3.38%) rose.

Except for HLB (up 3.8%), all of the top 10 KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization fell. The largest drop was at Wonik IPS with 10.0%, followed by Jusung Engineering (-9.3%), PSK (-7.0%), Rainbow Robotics (-5.9%), Leeno Industrial (-5.6%), Ecopro (-3.2%), Alteogen (-2.9%), ABL Bio (-2.6%), and Ecopro BM (-2.3%).

On July 15 (local time), leading U.S. stock indices rose, but a steep decline in semiconductor stocks is seen as the key influence. On this day, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 2.08% to 12,398.89. Micron Technology plummeted by 7.94%, while Marvell Technology, Intel, and AMD dropped by 7.27%, 4.43%, and 3.46%, respectively. SK hynix's American Depositary Receipt (ADR) also fell 9.00% amid growing concerns over delays in data center construction.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.