[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] The KOSPI failed to withstand the shock of the U.S. “Blue Wave” and fell below the 5,000 mark. This is the first time the KOSPI has fallen below 5,000 in nine months, since last February, and as selling pressure surged, the 11th circuit breaker of the year was triggered.

According to MP Doctor on the 6th, the KOSPI opened at 5,263.26, down 120.54 points (2.24%) from the previous trading day, and as of 1:12 p.m., it was trading at 5,086.45, down 297.35 points (5.52%). The KOSPI fell as low as 4,911.28 during the session but quickly recovered its losses and has since regained the 5,000 mark.
So far today, foreign investors are the only net sellers in the KOSPI market, with net sales totaling 1.4064 trillion won, while retail and institutional investors are net buyers of 203 billion won and 891.6 billion won, respectively. By trading type, combined arbitrage and non-arbitrage trades show a net selling position of 628.5 billion won.
On this day, circuit breakers and sell-side cars were triggered in quick succession on the KOSPI market. At around 9:03 a.m., the KOSPI fell 459.19 points (8.52%) from the previous trading day to 4,924.61, triggering a Level 1 circuit breaker. As a result, trading on the KOSPI was suspended for 20 minutes. This marks the 11th circuit breaker trigger this year and the 17th in history.
As soon as trading resumed after the 20-minute suspension, around 9:34 a.m., the sell-side sidecar was also triggered. This marks the second consecutive day following the previous day (the 5th) and the 30th time this year. At the time of activation, the KOSPI 200 futures stood at 781.00, down 56.80 points (6.77%) from the previous trading day’s reference price of 837.80. The sell-side circuit breaker is triggered when the KOSPI 200 futures price remains down by more than 5% from the previous day’s closing price for at least one minute. It suspends the effectiveness of program sell orders for five minutes to mitigate market shock.
Earlier, as the “blue wave” materialized with the Democrats winning both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in the midterm elections, fears swept through the stock market that Washington’s policy stance would shift toward “tighter regulation of artificial intelligence (AI).” Consequently, the U.S. Nasdaq index plunged more than 5% overnight, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also tumbled by more than 12%. The domestic stock market was also adversely affected, with the index falling below the 5,000-point mark during the trading session. This marks the first time in nine months since it dropped to 4,899.30 during trading on February 6.
Consequently, major domestic semiconductor stocks are also being affected. At the same time, SamsungElectronics(005930)was trading at 190,000 won, down 11,500 won (5.71%) from the previous trading day, breaking the “200,000 won” barrier. SK hynix(000660)is trading at 1,151,000 won, down 113,000 won (8.94%).
Nevertheless, analysts point out that the market has overreacted. Kang Hye-seong, an analyst at SANGSANGINVESTMENT&SECURITIES, stated, “Historically, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has often surged sharply following a steep decline. In the case of the KOSPI, while returns were poor for the first five days, the index often recovered over the following 15 days.” She added, “Since investor sentiment is very weak in the short term, the volatile trend may continue through next week. However, it is important to keep in mind that investment opportunities ultimately lie within fear.”
Han Ji-young, an analyst at KIWOOM Securities, advised, “Rather than joining the sell-off of AI stocks at this point, it is more appropriate to adopt a wait-and-see approach while monitoring whether U.S. hyperscalers will revise their capital expenditure (CAPEX) plans in the U.S. and other regions, and whether the 2028 consensus estimates for domestic and international semiconductor stocks—which had recently risen—will be revised downward.”