‘Google shock’ sends Kospi tumbling… down 3.5% to close around 5,730 - 경향신문
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As the Kospi fell more than 3% on the 30th due to the fallout from a plunge in U.S. tech stocks, an employee works in the Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul. Yonhap News
Dragged down by Alphabet, Google’s parent, plunging more than 12% on Wall Street overnight, the Kospi sank more than 3%. At one point intraday, the 5,600 level broke, triggering a sell-sidecar.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 30th, the Kospi index closed at 5,730.74, down 206.92 points (3.48%) from the previous session. The index opened at 5,760.35, down 177.31 points (2.99%), then deepened its losses, sliding to as low as 5,599.42 intraday. At the intraday low, the decline reached 5.7%.
Around 10:05 a.m., as the KOSPI 200 futures index plunged, the effectiveness of program sell quotes was suspended for five minutes. It was the first sell-sidecar in the Kospi market in 11 trading days, since the 15th.
Foreign investors led the decline. Foreigners were net sellers of 1.6173 trillion won in the main board. Individuals and institutions were net buyers of 621.0 billion won and 742.6 billion won, respectively, but failed to support the index.
Selling was concentrated in AI-related stocks, including semiconductors. SK hynix tumbled 7.08% to 1,418,000 won, and Samsung Electronics fell 3.02% to 225,000 won at the close. Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-7.50%), SK Square (-5.88%), and Samsung Electronics (preferred) (-5.33%) also dropped sharply, while Hyundai Motor (-3.59%), Samsung Life Insurance (-2.70%), and KB Financial (-0.83%) were weak. Among the top 10 companies by market cap, only Samsung Biologics (8.86%) and LG Energy Solution (0.98%) rose.
The day’s decline was triggered by Wall Street’s ‘Google shock’ overnight. Alphabet, Google’s parent, reported third-quarter revenue of $111.2 billion, missing market expectations, while free cash flow (FCF) showed a deficit of $9.1 billion (about 12.2 trillion won), marking two consecutive quarters in the red for the first time since listing. Amid concerns over weak results and the burden of AI investment, Alphabet shares plunged 12.64% to close at $283.82. Roughly 671 trillion won in market capitalization (converted to won) was wiped out in a single day.
Microsoft’s capital expenditure outlook also came in below market expectations, adding pressure. Growing concerns that AI infrastructure investment may be executed more slowly than expected spurred foreign selling of semiconductor stocks.
The Kosdaq index closed at 724.38, down 28.85 points (3.83%) from the previous session. Individuals were net buyers of 168.8 billion won, while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 26.7 billion won and 137.7 billion won, respectively.
